CORRELATIONS BETWEEN COACHING BEHAVIOR, MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATE AND INTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN CADET BASKETBALL PLAYERS

Aim:The aim of this research is the empirical study of coach’s social contribution to intrinsic motivation of cadet basketball players. The research included the pertinent sample (N = 114) of participants from five basketball clubs from Valjevo. The average age of participants was 15,36 years. Methods: The following measuring instruments were used: The Leadership Scale for Sports questionnaire (LSS), Negative Coaching Behavior Questionnaire (UNPT), Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire (PMSCQ), and The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Results: The obtained results indicate that there are 2/3 of bivariate correlations between the examined variables in adolescent basketball population. The applied hierarchical analysis included the variables coach’s positive and negative actions in the first predictor group, and mastery-oriented motivational climate in the second. The regression equation accounted for 30% of the variability of the scores on the criterion variable intrinsic motivation, where coach’s negative actions are revealed as significant negative predictor variable, while the mastery-oriented motivational climate was a positive predictor of the criterion. Conclusion: The possible explanations and implications were discussed in this research. The obtained results indicate that the examined variables are relevant for understanding and predicting intrinsic motivation in adolescent basketball players. Key words: leadership in sport, young basketball players, subscale interests, coaching behavior