Achievement goals and sportsmanlike attitudes in young soccer players and its association with perceived pressure from significant social agents

The purposes of this study were to characterize the achievement goals and sportsmanlike attitudes in young soccer players and their association with perceived pressure from different significant social agents (parents/family, coaches, teammates and friends). The sample of the study was comprised of 118 young soccer players, aged between 11 and 19 years (M= 14.68, SD= 2.16). Athletes had 5.40 ± 2.39 years of sport experience and 71 (60.2%) of the athletes had competed at a regional level, while 47 (39.8%) had participated in national competitions. Participants completed a socio-demographic survey, the Task and Ego Orientation in Sports Questionnaire and the Sports Values Questionnaire. The statistical analyses involved univariate normality and descriptive, comparative and correlational analyses. Results revealed that task orientation was positively correlated with sportsmanlike attitudes (r= 0.47, p