The Relationship Between Personal Self-Realization in Sports with the Motivation for Sports Activities

Abstract

ABSTRACT The issue of personal self-realization is not new. It has intrigued people in extremely different disciplines: philosophy, psychology, sociology, history, pedagogy, etc. Sports activity is one of the areas where people can demonstrate their excellence by utilizing their physical capabilities to achieve specific results. Because of the high competition, this activity has clear evaluation criteria for results and requires a person to produce high-level performance, and utilize the highest motivation. In this context, studies of the relationship between self-realization and motivation are of particular importance. Motivation holds a leading position in the structure of personality and is one of the main concepts used to explain the driving forces in behaviour (A. G. Kovalev; A. N. Leontiev; N. B. Stambulova). In this study the motivation for sports activities is divided into two types: social and individual. Social motivation for an athlete seems to contribute more to self-realization than individual motivation.