Introduction
Parents play a significant role in the development
of their children’s attitudes and behaviors towards sports, but studies
on the influence of parental style are rare. Many studies have been
conducted on parental involvement in sports, but they are mostly limited
to the overall level of parental involvement. De Knop, Buisman, De
Haan, Van Iersel, Horvers, Vloet (1998) researched Parental Participation
In Their Children’s Sports Clubs. They concluded that 53%, of the
76% of clubs and teams surveyed who were not pleased with the level of
involvement, the way in which the parents were involved. An aspect
that needs further examination is, to what extents does the nature of parental
style and involvement lead to an individuals perceptions of the motivational
climate initiated be a mother and father in the enjoyment of sports participation?
This study will investigate a relationship between parental style and perceived
motivational climate of parents. Specifically, if the authoritative
parental style is more conducive to a perceived learning enjoyment climate
initiated by the parents in the learning and performance of skills.
De Knop, Buisman, De Haan, Van Iersel, Horvers,
Vloet (1998) conducted a primary research study, investigating parent’s
involvement in the sports clubs of their children. In addition De
Knop and his colleagues explored whether these sports clubs are satisfied
with the way in which the parents are involved. From the clubs that
returned the questionnaire, 76.7% were not pleased with the number of parents
involved in the sports clubs. Further, 53% of the respondents reported
they were not happy with the way in which parents were involved (De Knop,
Buisman, De Haan, Van Iersel, Horvers, Vloet 1998).
De Knop (1992) distinguished “problem parents”
as five types of parents; uninterested parents, overcritical parents, parents
yelling from the sideline, coaching from the sideline, and over concerned
parents. An uninterested parent is one who is never present at the
sporting activity or is aloof and unresponsive as well. Overcritical
parents are never satisfied with the achievements of their child or the
method of coaching. Parents yelling from the sidelines are always
in close proximity to children and often shout louder than coaches.
Coaching from the sidelines describes parents who give instructions during
the game. They may contradict the directions of the coach, which
can cause confusion for the child. Over concerned parents are usually
afraid of the dangers of sport and threaten to take their child out of
the sport. Parents, often times, do not realize how much their behavior
and interaction with a club can influence the enjoyment level of their
child.
De Knop’s (1992) five types of problem parents,
uninterested parents, overcritical parents, parents yelling from the sideline,
coaching from the sideline, and over concerned parents, parallel the parenting
behaviors that need more research. The nature of parental involvement
is more important than the overall amount or level to which a parent is
involved. Woolger and Power (1993) came to this conclusion.
Research on achievement in other context has demonstrated that the nature
of parental involvement is much more important than undifferentiated measures
of the overall amount (Clark-Stewart, 1977, cited in Woolger & Power,
1993).
Stein, Raedeke, Glenn (1999) conducted research
on Children’s Perceptions of Parent Sport Involvement. Parental involvement
was defined as the time, energy, and money parents invest in their child’s
sport participation, and includes aspects such as providing transportation,
attending practices and games, providing instructional assistance, and
purchasing equipment. Through their involvement, parents can help
create feelings of enjoyment by providing support and encouragement, or
they can be a source of stress and anxiety by placing excessive pressure
on a child (Stein, Raedeke, Glenn, 1999). In the sport domain, Hellstedt
(1987) suggests that moderate parental involvement is ideal and enables
parents to provide support for their child’s sport participation.
In contrast, both low and high parental involvement typically create a
less optimal environment which is likely to increase stress and reduce
enjoyment associated with sport participation.
A rather small number of studies on parental style
and its influences in sport enjoyment, literature on parenting and achievement
in the academic area is voluminous (Woolger & Power, 1993). Woolger
and Power (1993), discuss how research on parental influences identify
five dimensions of parental behavior that appear to be important: acceptance,
modeling, performance expectations, rewards/punishment, and directiveness.
In spite of the general consensus that parental acceptance is positively
related to children’s self-esteem, competence, and achievement, important
distinctions relevant to the sports domain have yet to be investigated
(Woolger & Power, 1993).
Butcher, Lindner, Koenraad, and Johns (2002) conducted
a study titled, Withdrawal from Competitive Youth Sports. This was
a ten-year study that provided a description of the extent, context, and
timing of withdrawal from youth competitive sports that addressed the sport-specific
versus permanent dropout question. Butcher, Lindner, Koenraad, and
Johns (2002) believed that understanding withdrawal reasons could be further
enhanced by knowledge of what motivates children and adolescents to participate
in sports. They highlighted three major motives for participation:
the desire to develop and demonstrate physical competence, gaining social
acceptance and support from peers and significant adults including parents,
and fun/enjoyment. Butcher, Lindner, Koenraad, and Johns (2002) concluded
that elite competitors primary reasons for withdrawing were: too much pressure
to perform well, injury, needing time for studying, and the coach.
An interesting aspect about this conclusion is that it highlighted acceptance
and support from peers and significant adults including parents as a reason
for participating in sports. In addition, it concluded that one of the
four main reasons for withdrawal was too much pressure to perform well.
Further investigation of where the pressure to perform well originates
is important. Parental pressure may be a major reason for an adolescent
to withdraw from sports. This may create unwelcome tension in the
parent-child relationships and could create long-term problems.
The sparse literature on sport socialization of
children suggests that the family in general, and parents in particular,
are instrumental in determining children’s sport involvement (Greendorfer
and Lewko (1978). The results of the Greendorfer and Lewko (1978)
study identified the father as a major socializing agent for both sexes.
This study also found the father to be a major socializing agent.
Further investigation into the nature of parental involvement, attitudes
and behaviors, place parental pressure on the child that may influence
an adolescent’s enjoyment of sports or obstruct their enjoyment of a sport.
Parental style is a concept introduced by Baumrind
(1971) that may prove valuable in the investigation of healthy parental
involvement in the sports domain. Baumrind (1971) described
three distinct prototypes of parental authority permissiveness, authoritarianism,
and authoritativeness. These permissive parents are relatively non-controlling
and seldom use any form of punishment to control their children.
Permissive parents tend to make fewer demands on their children than other
parents, allowing them to regulate their own activities as much as possible
(Baumrind, 1971). Authoritarian parents tend to be very strict and
rigid by setting rules for acceptable behavior. Authoritarians value
unquestioning obedience in their exercise of authority over their children,
tend to be detached and less warm than other parents, discourage verbal
give-and-take between child and parent, and favor punitive measures to
control their children’s behaviors.
Authoritative parenting style is a combination
between the two extremes. They are characterized as providing clear
and firm directions for their children, but disciplinary clarity is moderated
by warmth, reason, flexibility, and verbal give-and-take (Baumrind, 1971).
Constant verbal give-and-take is an important attribute of the authoritative
parenting style. It enhances communication between parent and child
by encouraging the child to form their own thoughts and beliefs about a
situation. Authoritative parents value individual thoughts and concerns
of their children and work to form a mutual agreement if a conflict arises.
It is important to remember that what is perceived
by one individual as “too much” may be “just right” for another.
This concept may also be true when describing parental styles. A
permissive parent may fall into the “uninterested parent” category described
be De Knop (1992). This is a parent who rarely, or even never is
present at a sporting activity. Their involvement level may only
include driving to and from practices or games and purchasing the equipment
needed in order to participate. This may create stress and anxiety
for the individual because no support or encouragement is provided.
A permissive parent may induce a perceived success without effort climate
by the child. The parent may look satisfied and say it is important
to win without trying hard. Since the parent has a minimal involvement
level, they may believe that their child should achieve a lot without much
effort, telling the child he/she should be satisfied if they achieve without
trying hard.
An authoritarian parent who is involved in his/her
child’s sport activities may be a source of stress and anxiety if their
actions are perceived as inappropriate. Authoritarians value unquestioning
obedience, tend to be very strict and rigid setting rules for behavior,
are less warm, and favor punitive measures for controlling behavior.
If this type of parent is highly involved in their child’s sport activities
it may be a major source of stress and anxiety to the child. They
may be described as an “overcritical parent” because they are very strict
and rigid by setting rules that they demand be followed. Overcritical
parents are never satisfied with the achievements of their child or the
method of coaching. They may believe that their child is the best
athlete on the field and are not satisfied unless they win.
Pressure to perform well has been proven to be
a source of stress and anxiety for an individual. Butcher, Linder,
Koenraad, and Johns (2002) concluded that one of the four main reasons
for withdrawal from sports was too much pressure to perform well.
The authoritarian parenting style may induce a worry-conducive motivational
climate. This type of motivational climate initiated by a parent
makes a child worried about failing because doing so will appear negative
in their eyes. This prototype makes a child worried about making
mistakes, about performing skills they are not good at, and makes a child
feel badly when they cannot do as well as others.
Authoritative parenting style seems to be the
best fit to facilitate a learning enjoyment atmosphere perceived be a child.
It is a healthy combination of both the permissive and authoritarian parenting
styles. Authoritative parents incorporate the five dimensions of
parental behavior that appear to be important: acceptance, modeling, performance
expectations, rewards/punishment, and directiveness, as described by Woolger
and Power (1993). Perceived parent initiated learning/enjoyment motivational
climate is described as parents who pay special attention to whether a
child is improving their skills and is most satisfied when something new
is learned. This prototype believes enjoyment is very important in
developing new skills and is satisfied when improvement is due to hard
work. The parent encourages the child to enjoy learning new skills
and tells them that making mistakes are part of learning. Authoritative
parents constantly engage in verbal give and take between themselves and
their child, creating a balance for which positive and negative criticism
can be communicated.
Since the majority of studies have been conducted
on parental involvement in sports and are mostly based on the level of
involvement by the parent, it may be valuable to investigate the individual’s
perception of the motivational climate initiated by mothers and fathers
in the performance and involvement of sports activities. Certain
behaviors and actions on behalf of the parent may strongly influence the
enjoyment level of their children. Woolger and Power (1993), identified
five dimensions of parental behavior that have been shown to be important
in other context of achievement but important distinctions relevant to
the sports domain have yet to be investigated. Allen (2003) reported
that social sources of positive and negative affect such as social recognition
and parental pressure are reasons that motivate youths in sports.
Butcher, Lindner, Koenraad and Johns (2002) concluded that a major reason
for adolescent withdrawal from competitive youth sports is due to excessive
pressure to perform well. While these studies have been successful,
additional investigation into the nature of constructive parental involvement
is needed.