title: Implicit motives and basic need satisfaction in extreme endurance sports.
abstract: Previous research has shown that the effects of basic psychological needs on the flow experience in sports are moderated by implicit motives. However, so far, only leisure and health-oriented sports have been analyzed. In a pilot study and a main study (N = 29, 93), we tested whether the implicit achievement and affiliation motives interact with the need for competence and the need for social relatedness satisfaction, respectively, to predict flow experience and well-being in extreme endurance athletes. Results showed that highly achievement-motivated individuals benefited more from the need for competence satisfaction in terms of flow than individuals with a low achievement motive did. In addition, highly affiliation-motivated individuals whose need for social relatedness is satisfied reported higher positive affect and lower exercise addiction scores than athletes with a low motive. We discuss the differential effects of the interplay between the achievement and affiliation motives and basic needs on different outcome variables.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Sport Science, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schüler
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wegner
authors.forename: Beat
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Knechtle
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D056352:Athletes / Q000523:psychology; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010807:Physical Endurance; D012420:Running / Q000523:psychology; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*