No abstract

The present study tested a theoretical model of the correlates of role ambiguity of major sport event volunteers. The sample consisted of 328 volunteers involved with the 2012 Ontario Summer Games. Participants completed an online questionnaire post-Games that included measures of role ambiguity, role difficulty, training, supervision, effort, performance, role satisfaction, overall satisfaction with the Games, and future volunteer intentions. The findings provide support for a multidimensional model of role ambiguity, consisting of performance outcome ambiguity and means-ends/scope ambiguity in this context. A final model indicated that perceived effective supervision was inversely associated with both dimensions of ambiguity, and they differentially predicted role effort, performance, and role satisfaction. Role performance and role satisfaction predicted overall satisfaction with the Games experience, which was significantly associated with future intentions to volunteer. Implications for sport event volunteer management and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a conceptually and psychometrically sound conflict questionnaire for sport. The development process involved 3 phases: (a) a qualitative phase, (b) a content and factorial validity phase and (c) a construct validity phase. A total of 50 items were generated and sent to 6 experts to determine content validity. Through this process, 25 items were retained and administered to a sample of athletes (n = 437) to determine factorial validity. Based on these results, a second sample (n = 305) was administered the 14-item version of the Group Conflict Questionnaire along with the Group Environment Questionnaire, the Athlete Satisfaction Questionnaire and the Passion Scale to test convergent, discriminant and known-group difference validity. Cross-validation from both samples via confirmatory factor analysis yielded moderate-to-acceptable model fit, thus supporting factorial validity for the 14-item version. Additionally, initial support for convergent validity and known-group difference validity and partial support for discriminant validity were found. A sport-specific conflict questionnaire is now available for researchers to utilise. Results and research implications are discussed.

Athlete burnout symptoms are detrimental to athlete well-being (Cresswell & Eklund, 2005). Obsessive passion has been identified as an antecedent of athlete burnout, with basic psychological need satisfaction potentially mediating this process (Curran et al., 2011; 2013; Deci & Ryan, 2000; Vallerand et al., 2003). The aim of the current research was to extend on previous work (e.g., Curran et al., 2011; 2013; Gustafsson et al., 2011) and examine whether the relationship between passion and athlete burnout was mediated by psychological need satisfaction in a heterogeneous sample. Participants were 120 competitive athletes (Mage = 22.04, SD = 5.83) from 21 different sports. Each participant completed the Passion Scale (Vallerand et al., 2003), Basic Psychological Needs in Sport Scale (Ng, Lonsdale, & Hodge, 2011), and the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (Raedeke & Smith, 2001). Multiple regression and bootstrapping procedures (Preacher & Hayes, 2008) were used to analyze the data. Passion (harmonious and obsessive) was found to share a significant relationship with sport devaluation but shared no significant relationship with emotional and physical exhaustion and reduced sense of accomplishment. Bootstrapping results suggested that the basic psychological need of autonomy was the only significant mediating variable in the relationship between passion (harmonious and obsessive) and burnout (sport devaluation). Potential antecedents and consequences of athlete burnout, alongside applied and conceptual implications are discussed.

The study of conflict has been of primary interest in various fields such as organisational psychology for decades (e.g. Barki & Hartwick, 2004). In sport psychology, however, conflict research has been almost nonexistent (Lavoi, 2007) with few exceptions (e.g. Holt et al., 2012; Sullivan & Feltz, 2001). The importance of understanding conflict in sport and in groups, however, has been acknowledged because it has potentially serious implications for group outcomes (Lavoi, 2007). The present study investigated competitive sport athletes’ perceptions of intra-group conflict in sport. Ten intercollegiate athletes: (N=5 males, N=5 females; Mage=25.00, SD=2.87) participated in semi-structured interviews. Athletes perceived the nature of conflict to manifest itself in several ways including: (a) disagreements; (b) negative emotions; and (c) interference/antagonistic behaviors. In addition, conflict episodes were perceived to arise in task and social situations. The findings are discussed in terms of their contributions to current perspectives on intra-group conflict in sport.