Abstract
ObjectivesOur aim was to investigate the link between youth soccer players' perceptions of the coach-initiated motivational goal climate within their team and their perceptions of inclusion as a function of societal status. Societal status refers to one's national background which numerically forms the majority or a minority in a particular society. Design and methodsSurvey data was collected among 245 male youth soccer players (M = 12.9 years, SD = 1.60), who all played in culturally diverse teams in the Netherlands. The societal status of 94 players (38.4%) was majority, and 151 players (61.6%) were classified as minority. To test our main hypothesis, perceived inclusion as the dependent variable was hierarchically regressed on coach-initiated mastery goal climate perceptions, performance goal climate perceptions, societal status, and their interactions. ResultsOverall, mastery goal perceptions and performance goal perceptions of intra-team competition were positively and negatively related, respectively, to perceived team inclusion. As hypothesized, only among players with a societal minority status, perceptions of inclusion were higher when mastery goal climate perceptions were higher and performance goal climate perceptions were lower. Discussion and conclusionOur findings suggest that a coach-initiated mastery-oriented team climate may enhance an inclusive soccer environment in culturally and nationally diverse teams. For societal minority players, intra-team competition should be de-emphasized by the coach in order to strengthen the experience of inclusion.
Highlights
As we will discuss in more detail later, in the present study, we focused on this latter aspect of a performance goal climate
An additional t-test revealed that mean mastery goal climate perceptions were higher than performance goal climate perceptions, t(244) = 31.12, p
Consistent with group research that has shown that members of a societal minority are concerned with becoming targets of stigmatization, discrimination, and prejudice (Tropp & Pettigrew, 2005), we found empirical support for our prediction that the link be tween perceived motivational goal climate and perceived inclusion is a function of societal status
Summary
Our aim was to investigate the link between youth soccer players’ perceptions of the coach-initiated motivational goal climate within their team and their perceptions of inclusion as a function of societal status. To test our main hypothesis, perceived inclusion as the dependent variable was hierarchically regressed on coach-initiated mastery goal climate perceptions, per formance goal climate perceptions, societal status, and their interactions. Results: Overall, mastery goal perceptions and performance goal perceptions of intra-team competition were positively and negatively related, respectively, to perceived team inclusion. Only among players with a societal minority status, perceptions of inclusion were higher when mastery goal climate perceptions were higher and performance goal climate perceptions were lower. Discussion and conclusion: Our findings suggest that a coach-initiated mastery-oriented team climate may enhance an inclusive soccer environment in culturally and nationally diverse teams. Intrateam competition should be de-emphasized by the coach in order to strengthen the experience of inclusion
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