THE RELATIONSHIP OF MOTIVATION AND TRAINING PERFORMANCE IN

VOLLEYBALL

A Thesis Proposal of Research Methodology (ReMethod 102)

Presented to the Faculty of Schools of Graduate Studies
La Salle University – Ozamis City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts in Education Major in
Physical Education

By

Genieva D. Angcot

May 2, 2017
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ABSTRACT

This present study aims to examine the relationship of motivation and training

performance of the players towards volleyball. Predictive Non-experimental Cross-sectional

Design will be used to obtain 50 participants including seventh to tenth graders of high school

who are enrolled in the School Year 2017-2018. In this research, two variants of close response

questionnaire will be used. The questionnaire content relies on the specificity of motivation, and

on training performance of the athletes towards volleyball. In conducting the study, the

researcher will give a letter address to the different High School Principals under one of the

Divisions in Region X to ask permission. The researcher maximizes the connections to ask for a

help from those Coaches who are handling volleyball to administer the survey in which to be

answered by the secondary volleyball athletes. And for the test in the relationship between

independent variables (intrinsic and extrinsic motivations) and the dependent variable (training

performance) the researcher will use Multiple Regression.

Keywords: Self-Determination Theory, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Training

Performance, Volleyball, Athletes

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Cover Page i

Abstract ii

Table of Contents iii

CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1

Background of the Study 1

Review of Literature 3

Statement of the Problem 8

Research Framework 9

Significance of the Study 11

CHAPTER 2 – METHOD 13

Research Design 13

Respondents 13

Measures 13

Procedures 14

Data Analysis 14

References 15
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CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Volleyball is one of the competitive and fun sports in a league. The importance of

volleyball cannot be ignored particularly among the youths since it provides opportunities for

individuals to develop their athletic ability. In preparing for a competition, the ultimate

objective of the athletes is to attain peak training performance to pursuit excellence. Williams

(2006, p. 207), opined that peak performance are those magic moment when an athlete put it all

together (physically and mentally), the performance is exceptional, seemingly transcend ordinary

levels of play. Privette (1983, p. 1361) also added peak performance as behaviour which exceeds

one’s average performance or an episode of superior functioning. Competitively, these

performances often result in personal best; they are the ultimate high, the thrilling moment that

athletes and coaches work for in their pursuit of excellence (Privette, 1983, p.1361). There’s a

psychological factor that interplays the drive to pursuit this optimum performance. This drive or

desire is called motivation.

Motivation refers to purpose or reasons that underlie behavior that is characterized by

willingness and a choice. Motivation is also the root for all athletic effort and accomplishment.

Without this zeal, determination and perseverance to develop the skills necessary for the training

performance in volleyball, all of the others; mental factors, confidence, intensity, unflinching

concentration, and emotions, are worthless. To achieve goals, players must begin the process of

developing as true athletes, must be willing to maintain the efforts to succeed goals and must be

willing to work hard in the face of fatigue, boredom, pain, and the desire to do other things.

Motivation will entrench everything that impacts training performance such as physical
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conditioning, technical and tactical training, mental preparation, and general lifestyle which

include; sleep, diet, school or work, and relationships (Alderman, 1974; Straub, 1978 and Singer,

1986).

The reason behind motivation is so essential to training performance in volleyball

because it is the only contributor over which the athletes have control (Taylor, J. 2009). There

are three things that influence how well they perform. First, the ability, these include technical,

tactical, physical and mental capabilities. Because ability is something people are born with, they

can't change their ability so it is outside of their control. Second, the difficulty of the competition

influences performance. Contributors to difficulty include the ability of the opponent and

external factors such as an "away game" crowd and weather like temperature, wind, and sun.

Finally, motivation will influence performance. It is also the only factor of which athletes have

control. Motivation will directly influence the level of success that players ultimately achieve. If

they are highly motivated to improve their training performance, then they will put in the time

and effort necessary to raise the game. Motivation will also influence the level of performance

when the athletes begin a competition. If they're competing against someone of nearly the same

skill, it will not be the ability that will determine the outcome. Rather, it will be the athletes who

work the hardest, who don't easily give up, and who perform their best when it counts. In other

words, the athletes who are most motivated to win.

Based on the facts gathered, the researcher aims to determine the relationship of

motivation and training performance of the athletes especially in the field of volleyball. The
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researcher would also like to attempt to look at motivation and suggest ways to help improve the

motivational capacities of the athletes.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This section presents the reviews of related literature made or conducted that will bring

thorough understanding of the study. This section begins with the concept of motivation,

structure of motivation and the relationship of motivation and training performance. Those that

will be included in this section help in providing pieces of information that are important and

similar to the present study.

The concept of motivation

The idea of motivation began in the 20th century. The complexity of the idea of

motivation as a psychological phenomenon prompted the interest of researchers in psychology

(Mitchell T., 1982; Hellriegel et al., 1992; Amici et al., 2009; Maslow, 2007).

Motivation is a psychological process that generates the initiation, direction, intensity and

persistence of voluntary actions aiming to attain objectives.

In the study of Popescu-Neveanu (1978), it was stated that motivation is a system of

impulses, incentives, internal impulsions, activations, tensions or motives of actions and

behavior. This motivation is the basis for the formation of an attitude, which is based on the
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needs that cause the individual to exhibit a certain behavior. Motivation is a state that invigorates

behavior and gives it direction (Atkinson R. & Hilgard E., 2005). Motivation is self-directed; its

actions have a purpose and the behavior is variable; there is an expectation of success in terms of

motivated behaviors and lastly there is a positive or negative incentive, a ”consuming” value of

action (Pânişoară I. & Pânişoară A., 2005).

Structure of motivation

The structure of motivation is incorporated of all the motives that stimulate human

behavior. It is essential to know that a person’s motivation for an action does not lie in the

presence of a certain motive, but in the hierarchization of all the motives, which results in the

actual form and structure of motivation. The motivation area comprises of phenomena such as

needs, impulses, intentions, tendencies, interests, ideals, expectations, aspirations, values. These

phenomena lead to the emergence of reason.

Motive is the reason of an action, an impulse that drives action, a momentum, a goal, an

objective. All of our actions are always based on a motive, it is the motive that initiates action

and triggers the performance of actions in direct relation to the motivated activity. Motive is

force, a need, a specific desire that energizes and directs behavior towards a purpose (Morris,

1990). It is also dynamic, it changes so that the same activity acquires very different motivations

over time.
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Additionally, motive is an internal factor that triggers, supports and directs an activity

and has two functions: activation or energy mobilization, and behavior channeling.

Motivation as an internal factor is conditioned by its object; the external factor has a

triggering effect only in relation to specific needs, desires and aspirations. It is considered that

external factors are interwoven with internal factors causing the self-regulation, adaptation of

individuals, so that they act spontaneously and on their own based on their motives (Mihăilescu

et al., 2012).

The high performance of volleyball requires a lot of effort and sacrifices. Motivation for

high performance can be triggered by various motives depending on the individuals, their

aspirations, personalities, level of development and training.

Relationship of Motivation and Training Performance

Motivation is an essential factor of training performance in playing volleyball. With the

same abilities, two different athletes can achieve different performances depending on their

degree of motivation and involvement in the training. Motivation should not be considered and

interpreted as a goal in itself, but in relation to higher training performances. Peak performance

is a higher level of goal achievement. From its different skills involve in playing volleyball, what

is of interest is the value of motivation and its triggering effectiveness. In this context, the

relationship between motivation and training performance has a double importance.

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The relationship between motivation – or, better, between motivation intensity – and

performance level depends on the complexity of the training to be achieved. Psychological

research shows that, in simple training (repetitive, routine-like, automatic, with few alternatives),

performance level increases with motivation intensity. However, in complex training (creative,

rich in content and alternatives), motivation increase is associated, up to a certain point, with an

increase in performance – after which it decreases. The reason is, in simple training, where there

is one or maximum two correct solutions, differentiation is easy to make because it is not

influenced by an increase of motivational impulse. Nevertheless, when it comes to complex

training, the presence of several alternatives make it harder to act motivationally because its

increasing intensity disfavors discrimination, discerning and critical assessment. Effectiveness of

drills depends not only on the relationship between motivation intensity and complexity of

training, but also on the relationship between motivation intensity and the degree of difficulty of

the drills: the higher the correspondence and adequacy between motivation intensity and degree

of difficulty of the practice, the higher the effectiveness of the training.

Emotions, as motivational components, can strengthen, weaken or block the access to

cognitive or energetic resources:

 Positive emotions (joy, hope) favor, in general, focus, creativity, memory, involvement,

and resistance to effort, which increase the athlete’s reasons to get involved and to

achieve higher performance;

 Negative emotions (anxiety, sadness, anger, fear) block focus, memory, and problem-

solving, resulting in avoidance and non-involvement, and determining a decrease in

performance.
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 Emotion intensity also plays a considerable role:

 Low emotion intensity determines relaxation resulting in non-involvement and low

performance (distracted athlete);

 High emotion intensity determines excessive energetic mobilization resulting in

disorganization in behaviour and focus and, implicitly, in low performances (tensed

athletes);

 Moderate emotion intensity is the best in energetic mobilization and effective use of

abilities.

The factors contributing to training performance are as follows:

 Amount of effort, the energy spent on reaching a certain goal;

 Persistence of effort, the continuity of initial efforts (coaches will not have longer periods

of rest after reaching a maximum training level);

 Direction of effort, the quality of the practice or how cleverly it is done;

 Skills and abilities, task understanding and luck, which correlate with motivation and

help the first three motivation factors be effective, i.e. produce optimum training

performance.

In the study of motivation for performance, it is necessary to note R. N. Singer’s

contribution in the development of the concept of motivation optimum. There is an optimum

level of motivation for each individual and for each motor task or training. In analyzing

motivation for sports, there are three important factors according to Singer:

 Specificity of the sports branch;

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 Athletes and their aptitudes and attitudes (in high energy and anxiety level ones, there’s a

need to appeal to moderate motivational techniques and in low energy and anxiety level

ones, stimulating actions);

 Sport preparation programme.

There are also different strategies to use depending on each type of athletes to optimize

motivation. Thus, these are:

 Action triggering strategies (to apply in under-motivated athletes):

• Exploring other alternatives;

• Raising awareness about the consequences of non-involvement;

• Manipulating consequences;

• Modelling;

• Activating a context specific to the expected activity;

• Exploring preferences and interests;

 Motivation support strategies (to apply in athletes with relatively positive motivation):

• Ensuring the feeling of personal effectiveness and of self-esteem;

• Molding realistic acceptance of success and failure.

Statement of the Problem

The study aims to determine the association of motivation and training performance in

volleyball.
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Specifically, this study aims to answer the questions:

1. Is there a relationship between motivation and training performance of the players in

volleyball?

Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses are tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1: There is no significant relationship between the independent variable and dependent

variable.

HO2: There is significant relationship between the independent variables and dependent

variable.

Research Framework

This section provides the theories as guide to the possible completion of the study. The

arguments presented here by different proponents serve to shed light in clarifying some of the

questions involved in the study.

Motivation is an internal energy force that determines all aspects of our behavior

(Hamilton, 2017). One of the most popular theories of motivation is Self-determination theory

(SDT), which aims to explain individuals’ goal-directed behavior (Deci & Ryan 1985; Ryan &
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Deci 2000). The theory addresses three universal, innate and psychological needs such as

competence, autonomy, and psychological relatedness.

This model theory state that people will function and grow optimally if these universal

needs are met. So it is important to nurture its social environment to realize their inherent

potential as an athlete.

Furthermore, this Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has numerous varieties of

motivations distinguished according to the various reasons or objectives that would initiate an

action and these are intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The primary difference is

between intrinsic motivation, which attributes to doing something it is immanently alluring or

compelling, and extrinsic motivation, which refers to performing something for the reason that it

leads to a distinct outcome.

Intrinsic motivation is interpreted as the performance of an activity for its immanent

satisfactions rather than for some separable consequences. When athletes are motivated

intrinsically, they do their best in training and participate in the sport volleyball for the reasons

such as: enjoyment, reaching new personal levels, skill improvement, exploration of potential

and their growth as athletes (Cohn, 2017). Although, in one sense, the existence of intrinsic

motivation is within the athlete, not only that it exists within the player but in another sense, it

also exists in the relation between athletes and sports. In a study showed, intrinsically motivated

athletes developed task-oriented approach because they can focus on one small part of training at

a time. This eases pressure on the part of the athletes and makes training more enjoyable. Since
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intrinsic motivation exists in the nexus between a person and task, some authors have defined

intrinsic motivation it in terms of task being interesting while others have defined it in terms of

the satisfactions. Particularly, operant theory (Skinner, 1953) sustained that all behaviors are

triggered by rewards (i.e. through separable repercussions such as money or food)

activities/sports that are motivated intrinsically are the ones for which the prizes/reward was in

the sport itself.

Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand is a theory/idea that refers to whenever an activity

is accomplished for the sake of obtaining some separable outcome. When the athletes are

extrinsically motivated, they give their full effort in the training and participate in the

competition for motives such as external rewards like scholarships, trophies and entice attention

from media; or to avoid negative consequences such as being benched, falling out of favor with

coach and disapproval of parent. Furthermore, athletes can be motivated to complete the training

and perform the game for the sake of compensation whether they can be tangible (i.e money) or

subjective (i.e. praise and recognition) type (Brown, 2007) which can be often enough to

motivate athletes. This type of motivation is called external because it involves participation in

sports for some kind of reward that is external to the process of participation (Karageorghis &

Terry, 1969).

Significance of the Study

The finding of this study is significant because this will provide the knowledge and

information beneficial to the following groups and individuals:

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Athletes Enthusiast. This study enlightens the mind of the athletes to boost their drive to

achieve peak performance in the training of the sport volleyball.

Physical Educators. This study helps them to determine ways of developing the

enthusiasm of the athletes along the way of the drills.

Students. This study will help them realize the importance of motivation in the

participation of the training as they achieve their goal.

Future researchers. The result of this study may motivate them to conduct for further

study correlating on the relationship of motivation and training performance in volleyball.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study focuses primarily on determining the relationship of motivation and

training performance of the selected secondary volleyball players in one of the Divisions in

Region X. Some of the problems will meet by the researcher during the conduct of the study

are time management and financial constraint, thus, the researcher will only range to 50

respondents.
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CHAPTER 2 - METHODS

This chapter presents the methods that will use in the study which include the

research design, respondents, research instruments/measure, procedures and data analysis.

Research Design

In this study, the researcher will use Predictive Non-experimental Cross-sectional

Design to gather the necessary data. Predictive Non-experimental because the researcher will

predict the training performances of the athletes in the sport volleyball from their different source

of motivation. And cross-sectional design because the researcher will collect the data at one

point in time in order to work comparisons across different types of respondents.

Research Respondents

The respondents of the study are fifty (50) secondary volleyball athletes under one of

the Divisions in Region X who are currently in their Grade Levels (grade 7 to grade 10) in the

School Year: 2017-2018.

Research Instrument

The instruments that will use in data gathering are the use of Sports Motivation Scale

and Test of Performance Strategies. A scale on sports motivation (SMS-28) developed by

Pelletier, L. G., Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., Tuson, K. M., Brière, N. M., & Blais, M. R.

(1995) will be used. The said scale comprised of different motivations with the total number of

28 items. Participants will respond to each item using a 7-point scale that range from 1 (Does not
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correspond at all) to 7 (Corresponds exactly). And another instrument to be used is Test of

Performance Strategies developed by Thomas, Murphy, & Hardy (1999). This questionnaire will

describe a specific situation that athletes may encounter in training and competition. This type of

scale comprised of 64 items. Participants will respond to each item using a 5-point scale that

range from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always).

Data Procedure

The researcher will give a letter address to the different High School Principals under

one of the Divisions in Region X to ask permission to conduct the study. The researcher also

attaches a questionnaire so that there will be clearer understanding as to what are the purposes in

conducting the survey. After it will be approved, the researcher maximizes the connections to ask

for a help from those Coaches who are handling volleyball to administer the survey in which to

be answered by the secondary volleyball athletes. But before the distribution, the researcher

orients first the Coaches about the questionnaires to unlock any difficulties which might be

encountered by the respondents. The researcher will then collect the answered questionnaire

from the respondents through the assistance of the Coaches.

Data Analysis

The researcher will use Multiple Regression to qualify the data gathered. This statistical

method is used to determine the relationship between motivation and training performance of the

athletes towards the sport volleyball. This relationship will tell that the independent variables

have an effect on the dependent variable.

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Amici S, De Pero R, Piacentini M, Capranica L. (2009). Motivation for Sport in Young Italian
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Atkinson R, & Hilgard E. (2005). Introduction to Psychology, XIV th Edition. Technical

Publishing House, Bucharest, 507.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The ‘What’ and ‘Why’ of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and
the Self-Determination of Behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227-268

Deci, E.L. & Ryan, R.M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior.
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Hellriegel D, Slocum JW, Woodman RW (1992). Organizational Behaviour, 6 ed. West
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Maslow, A. (1943). A Theory of Human Motivation, Psychological Review; 50(4):370-396.

Mihăilescu L, Haralambie A, Mihăilescu L, Mihăilescu N. (2012). The quantification of the

motivational level of the performance athletes, “3rd World Conference on Psychology,
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Mitchell T. (1982) Motivation: New Direction for Theory. Research and Practice. Academy of
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Pânişoară I. & Pânişoară A.(2005). Effective Motivation. Ed. Polirom, Iasi, 23

Popescu-Neveanu P. (1978). Dictionary of Psychology. Ed. Albatros, Bucharest, 464.

Privette, G. (1983), “Peak experience, peak performance, and flow: A comparative analysis of
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Singer, R. N. (1986). Peak Performance and More. Ithaca, NY: Movement Publications, Inc.

Straub, W. F. (1978). Sports Psychology: An analysis of Athletes Behaviours. Ithaca, New

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WEBSITE

Cohn, P. (2017). What’s the Best Motivation for Athletes?. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from :
http://www.peaksports.com/sports-psychology-blog/whats-the-best-motivation-for-
athletes/

Hamilton, A. (2017). Motivation in Sports Psychology. Retrieved April 17, 2017, from:
https://www.pponline.co.uk/endurance-psychology/coping-with-emotions/motivation-
sports-psychology/
Taylor, J. (2009). Sports: What Motivates Athletes? Retrieved April 17, 2017, from Psychology
Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/200910/sports-what-
motivates-athletes