The paper reports a study of the sometimes ‘rocky’ trajectories of high achieving athletes and musicians. It addresses the issue of sustained motivation over time, in relation to real-life activities requiring complex skills in multiple contexts of participation. The work is grounded in the latest developments in motivation research, which conceptualize motivation as situated, dynamic, interactive and multi-dimensional. A person-in-context perspective, which combines elements of sociocultural and socio-cognitive theoretical approaches to motivation, provides a conceptual framework for exploring sustained motivation. The research aims to explore how high achieving athletes and musicians appraise salient aspects of person and context as affordances and constraints, and how these appraisals shape motivation over time.

Longitudinal and retrospective qualitative data were gathered about the life trajectories of thirty adolescent and adult participants, including details of their development and participation over time in sport and music, difficulties and life events encountered and how these had been dealt with. Analysis of semi-structured interviews and case summaries of individual participants revealed key aspects of person and context which contributed to decisions about persistence, modified participation or discontinued involvement.

Three major findings emerged. Firstly, sustained motivation is inextricably linked to both person and context. Secondly, it is mediated by individuals’ ongoing appraisal process of personal and contextual aspects of their current situation, which are interpreted as affordances or constraints. Thirdly, the nature and extent of participation is constantly revised due to ongoing changes in personal and contextual circumstances over time.

The research highlights the significance of a holistic understanding of motivation, the importance of individuals’ subjective accounts and reflections, and the value of focusing on trajectories of motivation within and across contexts of participation and over time, in order to capture its dynamic nature.

Background and Aims

This paper focuses on sustained motivation, the less researched aspect of motivation. Taking a person-in-context perspective (Pintrich, 2000; Volet & Järvelä, 2001), motivation is conceptualized as being situated and dynamically shaped by aspects of both person and context. Appraisal processes play a critical mediating role in sustained motivation and have been explored extensively from a socio-cognitive perspective (Boekaerts, 2002; Frydenberg, 1997). From a sociocultural perspective, individuals can use personal resources, and physical and social tools, to maintain participation and overcome personal limitations (Hickey & McCaslin, 2001).  

One way to research sustained motivation is to select participants who have persisted in activities requiring high levels of personal investment. A similar rationale has been used in studies of talent development and expertise (Bloom, 1985; Ericsson, 1996). The aim of the study was to gain insight into how motivation is sustained over time. More specifically, the study aimed to map the trajectories of high achieving athletes’ and musicians’ participation, to unveil how personal and contextual aspects of their situations were appraised at critical points and how these appraisals shaped their journey.

Methodology

Participants were thirty Australian athletes and musicians engaged in sporting teams or musical ensembles. The adolescents were in specialist sport or music programs in six different schools. Adults ranged from busy amateurs to professional musicians and Olympic athletes. To further capture multiple perspectives, the sample was diverse in relation to the types of sport and instruments played. The sample included equal numbers of athletes and musicians, of adolescents and athletes, and of males and females.

Two in-depth, semi-structured interviews formed the main source of data, eliciting participants’ accounts of and reflections on their participation across contexts of practice since their childhood. Seven participants were interviewed for a third time. Other data such as media reports were gathered over the whole period of the study.

Interviews were recorded and transcribed in full. Data were coded deductively in relation to key themes derived from current motivation theory and research. To gain a holistic perspective, a case summary, mapping individual trajectories of participation, was written for each participant. These were examined inductively for common themes and connections between ideas and events. The study’s credibility was strengthened through using verbatim transcripts, developing positive relations with participants, and member checks of findings.

Findings

This paper reports several results. Firstly, key aspects of participants (e.g. love of sport or music) and of their contexts (e.g. availability of community programs) are used to illustrate the way person and context together shape motivation. Key events reported by participants also indicate that sustained motivation is inextricably linked to both person and context.

Secondly, as individuals experienced or encountered personal and contextual affordances and constraints, they appraised their current situation and made decisions about the nature of their involvement in sport or music. Examples are presented to show inter-individual differences in perceptions of seemingly similar situations, leading to persistence, modified involvement or discontinuation.

Thirdly, trajectories of participation across individuals are reported which illustrate the dynamic nature of participants’ engagement in sport and music. The nature and extent of participation is constantly revised due to ongoing changes in personal and contextual circumstances over time.

Theoretical and Educational Significance of the Study

The finding that sustained motivation appeared inextricably linked to both person and context, highlights the significance of a holistic understanding of motivation. While the contexts of team sport and ensemble music were the focus of the study, participants’ accounts and interpretations revealed that the wider social environment also had to be taken into account. The holistic, person-in-context perspective adopted in the present research combined elements of both sociocultural and socio-cognitive theories. This integrated approach is endorsed by Winne (2004) as having the potential to accelerate progress on motivation.

The finding that sustained motivation was mediated by individuals’ ongoing appraisals of personal and contextual aspects of their current situation, stresses the importance of subjective accounts and reflections as critical in understanding how motivation develops and is maintained. While reliance on self-reports has limitations (Anderman & Anderman, 2000), these were critical to gain insight into the complex and dynamic nature of sustained motivation in multiple contexts. A common process of appraisals emerged and common factors were often involved in those appraisals, but the outcome could vary between individuals. This study revealed how these factors operate together in a dynamic, complex way, which can be as specific as each individual case.

The finding of sustained motivation as a highly dynamic construct, with forms and intensity of engagement being constantly revised, highlighted the value of focusing on trajectories of motivation within and across contexts and over time. Furthermore, beyond the domains of sport and music was always the broader social environment, which also could change. Whether personal or contextual in nature, events and circumstances were continuously appraised as affordances or constraints, leading to dynamic adjustments in involvement. Participants’ roads to success had not been straightforward but disengagement was not necessarily permanent. This is an important finding that could only emerge through an examination of motivation over time.