Sustaining a Team Culture – A Case Study Follow-Up of the Finnish Women’s National Ice Hockey Team
Csata-Szekely, Levente (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202305047594
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202305047594
Tiivistelmä
Being autonomy supportive means that an individual in a position of authority (e.g., an instructor or a coach) takes the other’s (e.g., a student’s or an athlete’s) perspective, acknowledges the other’s feelings, and provides the other with relevant information and opportunities for choice while minimizing the use of pressures and demands. Conversely, controlling behaviours are defined as pressures to think, feel or behave in specified ways, thereby ignoring the person’s needs and feelings. Taken as a whole, this body of research strongly suggests that autonomy-supportive behaviours are essential for the nurturing of athletes’ intrinsic and self-determined extrinsic motivation.
The aim of this study is to evaluate if the Finnish Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (FWN) has been able to sustain the autonomy-supportive environment established during the last Olympic project 2014-2018.
Participants in this study filled out a questionnaire and were interviewed. The questionnaire structure was built on the tenets of self-determination theory (SDT). Interviews were conducted over Teams/Zoom/WhatsApp meetings. The sample group was 28 persons. Participants consisted of 21 players and 7 staff members. The first hypothesis in this study was that the environment had sustained the autonomy-supportive climate since the last Olympic project. The second hypothesis was that the three psychological needs (Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness) are fulfilled in the FWN.
The evaluation is based on the SDT, and the coach-athlete motivational model. Using the SDT framework, this study evaluates the satisfaction or thwarting of the three basic psychological needs, competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When these basic needs are supported within a context, intrinsic motivation is facilitated. By contrast, whenever the social context thwarts or neglects one of these needs, intrinsic motivation, as well as a positive experience, diminishes. The coach-athlete motivational model is based on the tenets of SDT and is aimed at satisfying the three psychological needs of athletes.
The main result of this study shows that the working culture in the FWN from 2014 until 2020 has sustained the autonomy-supportive environment. The results also indicate that the 3 basic psychological needs are satisfied in the environment by the team members. The team members perceived the current working culture guidelines as necessary for success and a culture that has to be sustained even if the team members would change in the team. Situational thwarting factors have been reported in individual needs. The questionnaire and interview results support each other because similar conclusions can be found. Empirical findings are presented with illustrative examples of the theory in this case study follow-up. To increase the well-being of the FWN working culture, the thwarts in individual differences must be examined to avoid diminishing factors and allow the psychological needs of the team members to be satisfied.
The aim of this study is to evaluate if the Finnish Women’s National Ice Hockey Team (FWN) has been able to sustain the autonomy-supportive environment established during the last Olympic project 2014-2018.
Participants in this study filled out a questionnaire and were interviewed. The questionnaire structure was built on the tenets of self-determination theory (SDT). Interviews were conducted over Teams/Zoom/WhatsApp meetings. The sample group was 28 persons. Participants consisted of 21 players and 7 staff members. The first hypothesis in this study was that the environment had sustained the autonomy-supportive climate since the last Olympic project. The second hypothesis was that the three psychological needs (Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness) are fulfilled in the FWN.
The evaluation is based on the SDT, and the coach-athlete motivational model. Using the SDT framework, this study evaluates the satisfaction or thwarting of the three basic psychological needs, competence, autonomy, and relatedness. When these basic needs are supported within a context, intrinsic motivation is facilitated. By contrast, whenever the social context thwarts or neglects one of these needs, intrinsic motivation, as well as a positive experience, diminishes. The coach-athlete motivational model is based on the tenets of SDT and is aimed at satisfying the three psychological needs of athletes.
The main result of this study shows that the working culture in the FWN from 2014 until 2020 has sustained the autonomy-supportive environment. The results also indicate that the 3 basic psychological needs are satisfied in the environment by the team members. The team members perceived the current working culture guidelines as necessary for success and a culture that has to be sustained even if the team members would change in the team. Situational thwarting factors have been reported in individual needs. The questionnaire and interview results support each other because similar conclusions can be found. Empirical findings are presented with illustrative examples of the theory in this case study follow-up. To increase the well-being of the FWN working culture, the thwarts in individual differences must be examined to avoid diminishing factors and allow the psychological needs of the team members to be satisfied.