It is compatible the sport in scholar age with other social roles? A study through Self-Determination Theory

The main aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perception of conflict or utility of the sport regarding other social roles and self-determination level in young athletes, focusing on differences among these variables with respect to sex. Hence, we used a sample size of 1897 players from different sport modalities, 1378 male and 519 female. Participants filled a questionnaire to assess self-determination level and other to measure conflict between social roles. Results showed that utility of sport was positive and significantly associated with self-determined motivation, whereas conflict between roles was related with amotivation. Moreover, male athletes showed higher scores in all types of motivation that refer Self-Determination Theory, being the group that perceived the greater incompatibility between sport and other social roles according to their growth age. As a conclusion, we emphasize the necessity to promote intrinsic motives of practice in both sex to increase commitment with the sport activity, and avoid sport dropout that might be happened because of the demands of other contexts that surround young athletes.