Age matters. A study on motivation, flow and self-esteem in competing athletes.

Abstract

The present study tested whether there were any differences between athletes varying in age, or practising different sports at different levels, on the variables motivation, flow, self-esteem and personality. Of the 145 athletes that participated in the study, there were 85 males and 59 females (one missing) ranging from 18 to 40 years of age (M = 21.34, SD = 3.89). The athletes were grouped as team sport athletes (n = 74) and individual sport athletes (n = 71) in order to determine if the groups differed on any of the variables. Some of the athletes (n = 93) were also grouped as elite athletes. Team sport athletes were shown to have higher scores on the personality trait conscientiousness than individual sport athletes. The group of elite athletes showed a positive correlation with identified regulation and the dimension challenge-skill balance of the flow scale. The results also revealed that age was the best predictor of self-competence, behavioural regulation, and the challenge-skill balance. It seems likely that these results can be generalized to other groups of athletes, and that age might be an important predictor in general.