LE3 .A278 2013

2013

Shields, Chris

Acadia University

Bachelor of Science

Honours

Psychology

Psychology

In sport there exists the perfectionism paradox in which the notion of achieving perfection helps to drive goal-oriented behaviour, but perfectionism is also thought to lead to dissatisfaction and burnout. Parallel work exists on passion in sport with passion being conceptualized as harmonious (adaptive) or obsessive (maladaptive). There is much less literature examining the relationships between these and other social-cognitions such as self-efficacy or relational perceptions (e.g., how confident athletes feel their coaches are). The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between perfectionism, passion, and burnout among athletes. In addition, the relationship between athletes’ self-efficacy and relational perceptions of their coach (RISE) and perfectionism were examined. Using a cross-sectional design, varsity athletes (N = 31) completed an online questionnaire assessing perfectionism, passion, burnout, self-efficacy and RISE. Bivariate correlations revealed a number of significant relationships; of note, burnout was negatively related to harmonious passion, self-efficacy, and RISE (all rs > 0.42, ps < 0.01). MANOVA revealed that those with lower burnout had higher levels of harmonious passion (M = 6.37) compared to those with higher burnout scores (M = 4.98, p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that both perfectionism cognitions (β = 0.35, p = 0.006) and harmonious passion (β = -0.67, p < 0.001) were significant predictors of athlete burnout, accounting for an overall 59% of the variance. These preliminary findings provide insight into the relationships between these key constructs in sport and suggest potential implications for coaching tactics to prevent burnout while simultaneously fostering adaptive forms of perfectionism. Keywords: perfectionism, burnout, passion, self-efficacy, athletes

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1036