Achievement motivation in gymnastics athletes based on the Achievement Motivations Scale for Sports Environments: a study of gender differences

Background and study aim. Achievement motivation is one of the key factors in an athlete's success in winning competitions or becoming a champion. It provides a psychological drive that encourages athletes to achieve their best performance. This study aims to analyze gender differences in the achievement motivation of male and female gymnasts based on the Achievement Motivations Scale for Sports Environments (AMSSE). Materials and methods. This research is a comparative study. The sample consisted of gymnastics athletes from the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Participants were selected using simple randomization, including 26 male athletes and 81 female athletes, with an average age of 11.67 ± 3.75 years. The control group consisted of 41 athletes. The instrument used was the Achievement Motivations Scale for Sports Environments (AMSSE). Data analysis was conducted using the ANOVA test, with statistical significance set at p-value < 0.05. Results. The results showed no significant difference in achievement motivation between male and female gymnastics athletes in the Special Region of Yogyakarta, with an F-value of 0.264 and a p-value of 0.769 (> 0.05). However, based on average scores, male gymnasts had slightly higher achievement motivation (78.77 ± 7.28) compared to female gymnasts (77.65 ± 7.91) and the control group (77.50 ± 6.77). Conclusions. These findings suggest that both male and female gymnastics athletes require dedication and effort to achieve success while striving to avoid failure. Coaches should evaluate motivation from a personality psychology perspective. Achievement motivation plays a crucial role in an athlete's performance in both competition and training. Assessing motivational aspects can help athletes and coaches identify, develop, and implement appropriate training programs tailored to athletes' needs.