Antisocial and prosocial behaviour in sport
The influence of motivational processes on engagement in behaviours that are intended to benefit or harm others in sports has been largely ignored in past empirical literature; however extant findings in other related areas of life suggest that there is need to pay more attention to the motivational factors in prosocial/antisocial acts among athletes during sporting events. This study examined the roles of different motivational profiles (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation) in prosocial and antisocial behaviours among adolescent athletes in a southeast Nigerian state (N = 645; 54.7% females). Majority of them (64.3%) were engaged in field events. Data was collected using the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS-28) and the 20-item Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour in Sport Scale (AABSS). Regression analyses indicated that gender neither predicted prosocial behaviour nor antisocial behaviour. Intrinsic motivation did not predict prosocial behaviour but greater intrinsic motivation was linked to lower antisocial behaviour. Extrinsic motivation was associated with more prosocial behaviour, but there was a nonsignificant prediction of antisocial behaviour by extrinsic motivation. Those who reported greater amotivation were more prosocial and less antisocial in their sport behaviour. Findings imply that engagement in behaviours that benefit others in sport may be largely motivated by reciprocity, whereas amotivated people may not be as ambivalent as assumed. Increasing research is needed to shed more light on the nature of these associations among older athletes.