Amotivation

Amotivation is the absence of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: a person has no intention to act because they see no connection between effort and result. In self-determination theory it sits at the opposite pole from intrinsic motivation. It is often accompanied by a sense of helplessness and thoughts along the lines of "why bother trying at all".

Amotivation looks like turning up to training without being present, missed sessions, and phrases like "I don't care". It often accompanies a loss of motivation and is one of the markers of developing athlete burnout. Unlike temporary tiredness, amotivation persists and calls for work on its causes.

SDT-based sport motivation scales contain a separate amotivation subscale — high scores on it are a warning sign; questionnaires like these are in our assessment set. It is worth checking for signs of burnout at the same time. Go through the results and look for causes with a sport psychologist.

The first step is to rebuild the link between effort and result through small, all-but-guaranteed goals and a record of progress. Restoring autonomy helps: give the athlete a real choice in training and let them rethink what the sport means to them personally. Suitable exercises on meaning and goal setting are gathered in our collection.

Amotivation is a concept from self-determination theory and arises from a chronic shortfall in the basic psychological needs. It is directly connected to loss of motivation and athlete burnout. Restoring the need for competence is one of the keys to coming out of amotivation.