This article is the second in a series of articles summarizing research that recognizes the Reiss Motivation Profile® (RMP) as the "Science of Motivation®".
Professor Steven Reiss, along with colleagues James Wiltz and Michael Sherman, used his newly developed RMP to assess motivational differences between college students who played zero, one, or two sports at the high school or college level. The aim of the study was to identify the motives most associated with sports participation in adolescents and young adults. The researchers predicted that the most salient motive of athletes would be their strong desire for Physical Activity.
Participants were 415 college students (260 males and 155 females) who participated in zero (n = 96), one (n = 108), or two or more team sports (n = 211).
Athletics showed positive associations with the core desires of Physical Activity, Family, Social Communication, Power and Revenge. Compared to participants who never played sports, athletes who played at least one team sport placed significantly higher value on exercise, parenting, peer friendship, achievement and competition. As predicted, the strongest correlation between the number of sports practiced and intrinsic enjoyment of muscle movements provided evidence for the criterion validity of the RMP Physical Activity scale.
The number of sports practiced was found to be negatively related to the core desire of Curiosity. This result suggests that students who participate in team sports may be less interested in academic subjects than students who do not play sports.
According to the researchers, the study's findings indicate common motivational correlates across a variety of sports, but do not necessarily apply to specific sports. For example, a strong desire for Social Communication may be more pronounced for athletes playing team sports such as soccer, compared to individual sports (e.g. cycling).
In conclusion, this study supported the relevance of the Reiss Motivation Profile® in assessing what motivates athletes.
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Reiss, S., Wiltz, J., & Sherman, M. (2001). Trait motivational correlates of athleticism. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 1139-1145.