Some people want to keep fit, others want to train with their old friends, and yet others want to prove they are the best. Everybody has their own reason.
In psychology, motivation tends to be divided into intrinsic motivation (“I swim because I love swimming”) or extrinsic motivation (“I swim to be a winner.”). As well as being qualitatively different, motivation can also vary quantitively from person to person. So, there are cases of people with absolutely no motivation (unmotivated athlete) and others with a very high level of motivation. Plenty of research has shown there is a correlation between having a high level of intrinsic motivation and a long career in sport.
According to one of the most important theories about motivation, i.e. self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2000), there are three basic needs we all focus on and that indicate the presence of intrinsic motivation.
These three needs are:
- the need for autonomy;
- the need for competence;
- the need for relatedness.
If accompanied by certain factors, sports can manage to satisfy all three of these needs.
Indeed, in the specific case of swimming, the need for autonomy comes from the possibility of learning to swim and being autonomous in an element like water. But that is…
