Investigation of the relationship between athletes' basic psychological needs and sports success motivations

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the basic psychological needs of athletes and their levels of sport-specific motivation to succeed; whether these differ depending on demographic variables (age, gender, parental status, branch, etc.), and whether the basic psychological needs predict sport-specific motivation to succeed. Material and Method: The relational screening method was used for the study, and 218 men, 182 women, a total of 400 people who are athletes in Turkish Olympic Preparation Centers (Erzincan, Erzurum, Trabzon and Samsun) form the study group. The Basic Psychological Needs Scale and the Sport-Specific Achievement Motivation Scale were used for the study. The statistical data analysis program SPSS 24.0 was used to analyze the research data. ANOVA test were applied to determine the significance levels between dependent and independent variables, and BONFERRONI test was applied to determine in which groups the differences between the variables lied. Results: The study found that the basic psychological need levels of the athletes and their motivations for success in sports varied depending on demographic characteristics, specifically that older athletes' motivation to demonstrate competence and strength was higher and that the overall scores of athletes participating in team sports in terms of competence, need for relationships, motivation to approach success and motivation to succeed in sports were higher than those of individual athletes, duration of sports participation had a positive influence on the basic psychological need levels of the athletes, there was also a positive correlation between the basic psychological needs of the athletes and their sport-specific motivation to succeed. Conclusion: Basic psychological needs were a significant predictor of sport-specific motivation to succeed and that it explained 13.5% of the total variance. Key Words: Sports, Sport-Specific Success Motivation, Basic Psychological Need.