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Psychology Professor Discusses Sports Participation MotivationsDoes the name Dorcas Susan Butt mean anything tc you?She was Canada s No l-ranked women’s tennis player in 1960. 1961 and 1967. She was captain of Canada's national women’s tennis team from 1970 to 1972.Now. she's an associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, and she's written a book that's thought-provoking, even shocking.It’s entitled “The Psychology of Sport—The Behavior, Motivation, Personality and Performance of Athletes Dr Butt explores the motivations behind atnletic participation today She uses recent studies oi competition to show how athletes' motivations reflect the values of contemporary society as well as the psychology of individual players.What Dr Butt says in the book basically is that our motivations in spnrts participation today are outdated She sa;s competencemotivation—competing in sports for the sake of improving oneself—and cooperation—working with one another to achieve a goal—should be the motivations in sport instead of what they actually revolve around—a win-at-all costs philosophy that permeates sports participation in this country.•'American culture tends to breed individuals who feel that life is a struggle where the fittest and the toughest survive, and they behave accordingly.'’ says Dr. Butt.’ Further, a competitive society tends to re-inforce competitive behaviors and creates situations that are, in fact, competitive. Individuals nurtured within thus atmosphere will tend to perceive even neutral situations as competitive The point is that competition as a norm breeds more and more until it becomes self-destructiveWith competence and cooperation encouraged as sports motivations, sport can be socially and psychologically constructive instead of destructive.“Athletes then tend to contribute toward raising rather than lowering the performances of their opponents, cheating is never considered and excellence in performance rather than winning becomes the major aim.“It is a tragedy that society so often imposes competitive interpretations and structures upon excellence that is developed out of competence and cooperation.“What continues to threaten the world of sport i3 the perpetuation of the myth, via the overwhelming impact of the media, that the ultimate achievement is to win at any cost. The personalities of the athletes, as well as those who identify with the sports arena, are being cast into these dimensions The product is not reassuring ’’Dr. Butt says today we have too much athletic participation based on a striving to win Rather than striving to win as a motivation to train, Dr. Butt would rather see sports participation motivated by an individual’s will to improve him or her,elf or to cooperate with each other.Dr. Butt would like to see Jimmy Connors, for example, have an opponent down for the kill, then purposely double-fault away the match and set.I don't agree with Dr Butt's main contention, that participating in sports motivated chief y by winning is a bad thing Much of Dr Butt’s criticism obviously is aimed at the pros in thiscountrv but a reader of the book could inter that she sees the same evils*inherent in sports participation at ail levels.The majority of today’s athietes in this country are involved at the junior high and high school ievels. f ew are good enough to continue in college, still fewer make it to the pros So the motivation most important to discuss lies in our public and private schools.To be successful in life, you must have goals.The most realistic goal for anyone involved in athletics is to want to win. I can’t imagine any goal more important when it comes to making allthe sacrifices in training and preparation.Sure, personal improvement and learning to cooperate with your fellowteammates are important too, but they are secondary to wanting to win.Winning can be stressed out of proportion, sure, and that’s wherecheating in colleges and high-salary demands in the pros come in.But winning, or at least striving to win, really is the name of the game.And what s wrong with that1Our nation is built upon competition from the free-enterprise system on down, including athletics. For some athletes, as well as some businessmen, winning or success has become obsessive, but they are theexceptions rather than the general rule.If a successful football player in college could be President of theUnited States, the competitive aspect of athletic motivation can’t be quiteas destructive as Dr. Butt says For each sports success story, you find a vibrant and undeniable will towin You find that same type of willingness to pay the price in life amongyour successful persons in all fields.Still. Dr Butt s book is refreshingly thought-provoking and wellwritten I’d recommend it.
Newspaper Details
Amarillo Daily News
Amarillo, Texas, US
Fri, Mar 25, 1977
Page 14
Full Page
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USA 11 Jun 2020
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