The Effect of Family Structure on an Athlete's Motivation

The areas of motivation and family structure have been well researched in various studies. However there is limited research on the effects of family structure on motivation, and no research on the effect of family structure on an athlete's motivation. Therefore research on the relationship of family structure and motivation in sport will be performed. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effects of family structure on an athlete motivation. It is hypothesized that athletes from single parent families will be more extrinsically motivated than those athletes from two parent families. Participants were college athletes from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and Saint Francis University (PA) who agreed to participate in a study on family structure and motivation. The study had a sample size of 114 participants the various sports teams associated with the universities. Participants were gathered by emailing all the athletes from the various athletic teams at the two universities. The hypothesis that athletes from single parent families would be more extrinsically motivated than athletes from two biological parent families was found to be partially supported. The research showed that athletes from non-traditional families were more extrinsically motivated in the area of external regulation than athletes from two biological parent families. As there is no previous research on this topic, this study provides a starting point to a subject with numerous possibilities for future research.