Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Context and relevance. The theme of the work is dictated by the increasingly early professionalization of children's sports, the key concepts of which are perfectionism and motivation. Motivation is a significant predictor of learning achievement and overall well-being of children. In children of primary school age, parental attitudes play a significant role in the formation of motivation, which determine the child's attitude to sports activities in general and to personal achievements in particular. Objective. To study the relationship of parental attitude and perfectionism of mothers with the characteristics of sports motivation and anxiety of primary school-age children enrolled in sports schools. Hypothesis. There is a connection between the type of sports motivation in children-athletes of primary school age and the indicators of perfectionism in their mothers. We also suggested that there is a connection between mothers' perfectionism and their attitude to their children's failures and their desire to control them. Methods and materials. The study involved 42 children aged 7-11 (M = 9.73) enrolled in sports schools and 42 mothers (M = 37.21). The following methods were offered to parents: “R. Frost's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale” adapted by S.N. Enikolopov and V.A. Yasnaya; “P. Hewitt and G. Flett's Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale” adapted by I.I. Gracheva; “Perfectionism questionnaire” (N.G. Garanyan, A.B. Kholmogorova, T.Yu. Yudeeva); “Parental attitude questionnaire” (A.Ya. Varga, V.V. Stolin). The methods that were identified for children: MD-grid by H.D. Schmalt (motivation test for children aged 9-11 adapted by N.V. Afanasyeva); Sports motivation scale “Why I do sports” (based on the L. Pelletier questionnaire, adapted by S.O. Skachkova). Results. Links have been found between the amotivation of primary school-age children in professional sports and their mothers' preoccupation with assessments from others, fixation on their own imperfections, and perfectionism focused on others. Conclusions. It has been shown that fear of failure, hope for success, amotivation, and extrinsic motivation in child athletes are associated with certain indicators of maternal perfectionism.
Author: O.V. Koval
Institution: Moscow State University of Psychology & Education
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4414800147