Basic Psychological-Need Satisfaction and Thwarting: A Study with Brazilian Professional Players of League of Legends

Daniela Lopes Angelo, Marcelo Villas Boas Junior, Mariana de Freitas Corrêa, Vânia Hernandez Souza, Larissa de Paula Moura, Rosemeire de Oliveira, Mario Reyes Bossio and Maria Regina Ferreira Brandão
Additional contact information
Daniela Lopes Angelo: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Marcelo Villas Boas Junior: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Mariana de Freitas Corrêa: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Vânia Hernandez Souza: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Larissa de Paula Moura: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Rosemeire de Oliveira: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil
Mario Reyes Bossio: Faculty of Psychology, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15067, Peru
Maria Regina Ferreira Brandão: Faculty of Physical Education, São Judas Tadeu University, Sao Paulo 03166-000, Brazil

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Recently, the skill to play games has led to the professionalization of the activity in the form of “eSports” (electronic sports). Despite the popularity of eSports, little is known about its professional players from a psychological perspective. Given the importance of the coach-created environment in the athletes’ motivational processes, this study aimed to investigate the key psychological dimensions of the coach-created climate in 75 Brazilian professional players of League of Legends (LoL) considering the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Achievement Goal Theory (AGT). Fourteen hypotheses were tested, of which seven were confirmed. The empowering climate was a predictor of basic psychological-needs satisfaction and indirectly influenced autonomous motivation. The need satisfaction had a significant impact on both autonomous motivation and on lack of motivation, which, in turn, explained 56% of the variance in well-being and the intention to keep playing eSports. The disempowering climate was a predictor of psychological-needs thwarting but had no significant impact on autonomous motivation or lack of motivation. The results obtained support SDT and AGT in the context of eSports and were similar to those conducted with athletes from traditional sports, indicating that the empowering-and-disempowering-coaching-climates conceptualization applies not only to traditional sports athletes but also to professional eSports players.

Keywords: motivational climate; coaching; basic psychological needs; electronic sports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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