Motivational Climate, Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs and Fear of Failure in Young Athletes. Differences and Consistencies in Team Sports

The aim of the study was to analyze the motivational climate perceived by a group of young athletes and
\nits relationship with adaptive (basic psychological needs) and inhibitory (causes of fear of error) aspects
\nof behavior, also pointing out the differences according to sex and age. The sample consisted of 681 players
\nbetween 14 and 17 years of age belonging to different Spanish basketball and handball clubs, who
\nresponded to standardized tests on their adaptive resources to the perception of the climate constructed
\nby their coaches. The results showed that, as a greater task-involving climate is perceived, the satisfaction
\nof basic psychological needs increases (mainly relatedness), while the aversive causes of fear of failure
\ndecrease (mainly the fear of losing the interest of others and the fear of angering significant others). Regarding
\ngender, girls showed statistically significant differences in the levels of task-involving climate and
\nrelatedness satisfaction, while boys showed significantly more ego-involving climate, fear of having an
\nuncertain future, fear of losing the interest of others, and fear of angering significant others. With respect
\nto age, differences in task climate were only found in favor of younger athletes (14-15 years). Overall, this
\nstudy underlines the educational role of the coach in young team sports players. Specifically, the promotion
\nof a task climate favors relatedness and decreases the motives and the occurrence of cognitive-emotional
\nprocesses of fear of failure in young team sports players.