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Julia Schüler and colleagues tested the hypothesis that athletes with a strong implicit affiliation motive show increased sports performance (push-ups) and increased well-being (more positive affect, less perceived stress) when the assignment of sport-related goals is enriched by affiliation related incentives.

Indeed, goal × affiliation motive interactions revealed that individuals high in the affiliation motive who were assigned to the affiliation goal group showed increased sports performances and well-being, whereas individuals low in affiliation motive decreased performance and well-being. This suggests that instructors (e.g., sport coaches) have to create goal-motive fits when aiming to promote athlete’s performance and well-being (read the full paper here).

At the chair of sport psychology, we investigate the diverse ways in which implicit motives and various outcome measures interact. Specifically, we are interested in the processes by which motive-goal incongruence affects performance and well-being (click here to learn more).