Morphological Characteristics and Position-Specific Motivational Attributes in University Footballers

Introduction: The interplay between morphological characteristics and motivational attributes are crucial for sports performance. The study aimed to explore morphological characteristics and motivational attributes across different playing positions of football. Methods: Fifty four university representing male footballers has been randomly selected and categorized into defenders (n=16), goalkeepers (n=8), midfielders (n=19) and strikers (n=11). Anthropometric variables and sports motivation scale (SMS-28) were used to measure the morphological physiognomies and motivational attributes. Results: The study explores defenders as Endomorphic Mesomorph (2.7-4.1-2.4), goalkeepers as Mesomorphic Ectomorph (2.2-2.6-4.1), midfielders as Ectomorphic Mesomorph (2.2-3.9-2.6) and strikers as Ectomorphic Mesomorph (2.2-3.9-2.6). According to distribution pattern of the data a one way ANOVA has been employed and a significant difference has been in height (p<0.001) and mesomorphy (p=0.014) components. Goalkeepers demonstrated the highest height, while midfielders exhibited the lowest. Conversely, midfielders displayed the highest mesomorphy compared to other positions. Ectomorphy also significantly varied across positions (p<0.001), with goalkeepers showing the highest values. Interestingly, significant differences were observed in motivation attributes, particularly in extrinsic motivation-external regulation (p=0.044), extrinsic motivation-introjected regulation (p=0.026), and intrinsic motivation to accomplish (p=0.007). Goalkeepers displayed higher scores in external regulation compared to midfielders and strikers. Defenders exhibited greater introjected regulation compared to goalkeepers and strikers. Amotivation demonstrates moderate positive correlations with all other motivation sub-scales (ranging from 0.286 to 0.764, p<0.05). Regarding morphological characteristics, Endomorphy and Mesomorphy demonstrate weak correlations with motivation sub-scales (-0.043 to 0.184). Conclusions: These findings underscore the complex interaction between motivational sub-scales and morphological characteristics in the context of university footballers, highlighting the importance of considering both psychological and physical factors in athlete development and performance optimization.