The mediating role of coping strategies on the relationship between achievement motivation and affect in sport

This study examined in a sport context theoretical arguments advanced by Folkman (1984) and Lazarus (1991, 1993) regarding the relationships between motivational factors, different types of coping, affective outcomes, and situational perceptions of control. Three hundred and fifty-six athletes from British universities with an established sport record were requested to recall an important recent competition when they had a sport-related stressful experience. They then indicated the extent to which they relied on a number of coping strategies to deal with the situation, the emotional outcomes and the situational perceptions of control that the different coping strategies produced. Exploratory factor analysis extracted six factors: suppression of competing activities, effort, venting of emotions, distancing, seeking of social support and behavioural disengagement. In a further analysis, coping theories were linked with social-cognitive theories of motivation, with particular reference made to achievement goals (Nicholls, 1989) and motivational climates (Ames, 1992). Task orientation and mastery climate were found to relate with problem-focused coping whereas ego orientation and performance climate were linked with avoidance and emotion-focused coping. Furthermore, the complex links between motivation, coping, affect, and control were examined through structural equation modelling analysis.