INTRODUCTION

The understanding and enhancement of motivation in exercise and sport performance is quite challenging and it has been regularly studied based on the conceptual framework of the self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985). This theory focusses on the "why" of a given behavior, considering the determinants and consequences of more or less autonomous and controlled reasons for participation, assuming that there are three basic psychological needs required for optimal functioning and well-being: experienced competence; autonomy and relatedness (^{Duda, 2013}). The SDT assumes that autonomy support is the essential element for satisfying psychological needs (^{Almagro et al., 2015}). Recently, ^{Appleton et al. (2016)} proposed a hierarchical conceptualization of the coach-created motivational climate that integrates the major social environmental dimensions emphasized within SDT and Achievement Goal Theory (AGT; Nicholls, 1989). On the other hand, the AGT is a social-cognitive theory that assumes that individual is an intentional, rational goal directed organism and that achievement goals govern achievement beliefs and guide subsequent decision making and behavior in achievement context (^{Roberts & Treasure 2012}). The AGT considers the effects of two major domains: situational and dispositional. Situational determinants of behavior are related with the inherent factors in the context or environment, like the motivational climate created by coaches, for example, while dispositional variables are related with the individual's orientations, that will more likely determine the probability of adopting a certain goal or action.

^{Nicholls (1979)} theory was a useful framework to investigate the motivational effects stemming from the interactions between individuals and environment and was the first achievement motivation theory that provide effective answers about how to sustain optimum motivation for all level of ability (^{Ntoumanis, 2001}; ^{Roberts, 2012}). A person state of motivational involvement may be seen to range a continuum from task involvement to ego involvement. Task and ego involvement are fluid and dynamic during a competitive event, and thus, difficult to capture the essence of the correct orientation (^{Gernigon & Arripe-longueville, 2004}). Personal values are relevant in the field of sport, and they point to the importance of instilling human values of self-transcendence (transcending the personal in favor of the collective), transmitting competence and moral values in sport, and promoting task in the athlete, in order to foster prosocial attitudes and reduce unsportsmanlike attitudes during basketball practice (^{Adell et al., 2019}). Elite samples, who persistently seek a level of performance, revealed the joint existence of both orientations is necessary (^{Bossio, 2009}).

Perceptions of the motivational climate are influenced by the nature of relationships with important social agents in the sport setting (^{Smith et al., 2006}). The most important feature of AGT is that individual difference variables (self-schemas, personal theory of achievement, valence, dispositions, goal orientation) and situational variables (motivational climate, emergent schemas) are part of the same theory and are conceptually compatible (^{Roberts, 2012}).

In an attempt to measure whether people are prone to be Ego or Task involved in achievement tasks in sport, i.e., to measure dispositional goal orientations in sport (^{Biddle et al., 2003}), the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ) was proposed by ^{Treasure & Roberts, (1994)}. Individual's transitory state of task or ego involvement is also dependent on dispositional differences, namely the person's degree of task and ego orientation. Situational and dispositional goal perspectives emerged as the best predictor of the variables targeted (^{Balaguer et al., 2002}). Thus, perceived motivational climate and dispositional goal orientation appear to be two different dimensions of motivation in sport activities (^{Selfriz et al., 1992}). The social context of sport has the potential to provide interaction experiences, which are particularly relevant in team sports (Kavussanu, 2007). Athletes should pursue high collective efficacy standards within their team. A person is carrying out multiple roles in an athlete's motivational atmosphere, evaluative roles, training roles, competitive roles, associate social and emotional needs (^{Keegan et al., 2011}). Also, the sports' own nature and characteristics might influence the dispositional orientations in athletes (^{Amoroso et al., 2021}).

Ultimate Frisbee (UF) is a fast paced, non-contact, mixed team sport played with a flying disc or frisbee (^{Griggs, 2011}; ^{Lam et al., 2021}). The official field measures are 64 meters by 37.57 meters with 22.86 meters end zones, and an official match has a duration of 48 minutes, with two 24-minute halves (^{Caporali, 1988}). Gathering attributes of a number of invasion games, such as American football and netball, into a simple, yet demanding game (^{Spencer-Cavaliere et al., 2017}), UF is a self-refereed, tolerance requires players to give up a possible illicit advantage (^{Crocket, 2015}). UF has other distinguishing features when compared to other team sports, such as: self-arbitration, auto-regulation, and independent communication, even at world championship level, where players are expected to abide by a code of fair play, Spirit of the Game (^{Crocket, 2015}). The Spirit of the Game (SOTG) translates these characteristics, and to some extent, appear to modulate behaviors, actions, and some psychological aspects of the game (^{Spencer-Cavaliere et al., 2017}). Some aspects of SOTG described since the beginning of the UF (^{Clark et al., 1981}), such as: i) encouraging highly competitive play, but never at the expense of mutual respect between players; ii) play for pleasure and joy; iii) not accepting actions such as provoking opponents, encouraging intentional aggressions or even "win at all costs" behaviors, seem to encourage some researchers to understand the psychological dimension of UF (^{Griggs, 2009}, ²⁰¹¹).

However, research on this theme in the context of sport has sought to understand UF athletes related with dispositional orientations. With this in mind, the aim of this study was to analyze the dispositional orientations among UF athletes according to the different playing divisions. Although the relevance of the study of the determinants (motivation) for participation is strong, and particularly the study of dispositional orientations, the assessment of these variables in the specific context of the UF has not yet been carried out. This will be a first rehearsal for that purpose.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Participants

The European Beach Ultimate Championship (EBUC) 2019 hosted 90 teams from 23 Nations to participate in a total of 8 divisions. The championship was held in Portimão, Portugal, from May 6^th to 11^th. From the total of 1350 athletes participating in the EBUC 2019, 484 agreed to take part in the present study. Each division is differentiated by age: Women's <30 years old; Men's <33 years old; Mixed < 33 years old; Master Women's >30 years old; Master Men's >33 years old; Master Mixed >33 years old (M) >30 years old (F); Grandmaster Men's >40 years old; Great Grandmaster Men's >48 years old.

The Mixed division was the largest with 18 participating teams. This was followed by the Men's and Master Men's divisions, with 14 teams each and followed by the Master Mixed division with 12 teams.

In UF gender ratio is a rule that is defined the number of (F/M) elements entering the field to play the point. The attacking team chooses the number of elements (female / male) to be on the field for that point. With the gender ratio (3:2 or 2:3) at the start of the game, after the first disc flip (disc possession draw), an additional disc flip happens with the winner selecting the gender ratio for the first point. For the second and third points the ratio must be the reverse of the first point. For the fourth and fifth points the ratio must be same as the first point. This pattern of alternating the ratio every two points repeats until the end of the game (^{WFDF et al., 2009}). Grand Master Men's had 10 registered teams, and both Women's and Great Grand Master Men's had eight. The smallest division was Master Women's, with six registered teams. Participants were grouped according to eight competitive divisions (Table 1): mixed (n=123), grand master men's (n=61), master mixed (n=59), master men's (n=57), great grand master men's (n=52), master women's (n=51), men's (n=50) and women's (n=31).

Table 1. Number of participants per sex and UF division (n=484). 

The participants, representing 19 countries, had an average age of 34.7±9.7 years. Sport experience was expressed as years of participation in competitive UF at the club level, including registration with the respective national associations. Individual training information was obtained by interview on the day of observation and the years of formal national team representations confirmed in consultation with institutional records of the WFDF (Table 2). All athletes participated in regular training sessions (1-4 sessions·week^-1; 30-100 min·session^-1) with their clubs. The average duration of the national ultimate competitions varies according to the competitive schedules of each national association.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for chronological age and training information for the total sample. 

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics for the total sample on the subscales of POSQ are presented in Table 3. On average, UF athletes reported higher levels of perceived task orientations. The POSQ demonstrated reasonable internal consistency (values of α = 0.90 and α =0.81 for Task and Ego orientation, respectively) for the examined sample.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics and internal consistency of the POSQ subscales for the total sample. 

Comparisons between UF divisions on the POSQ subscales are presented in Table 4. Scores demonstrated that there was a significant main effect for UF division. When we analyse the data referring to the eight divisions, the mixed division presents the higher task score, while the Master women's division presents the highest ego value. For the task subscale, the three divisions (women's, Men's and Mixed) have the highest values, and mixed athletes scored significantly higher than grand master men's. As for the ego subscale: Men's scored significantly higher than grand master men's and great grand master men's; and master women's score significantly higher than women's, mixed, master mixed, master men's, grand master men's and great grand master men's.

Table 4. Means and standard deviations by UF divisions on the subscales of POSQ and results of ANOVAs. 

^amixed > grand master men’s;

^bwomen’s < master women’s;

^cmen’s > grand master men’s & great grand master men’s;

^dd mixed < master women’s;

^emaster women’s > women’s; mixed; master mixed; master men’s; grand master men’s & great grand master men’s;

^fmaster men’s < master women’s;

^gmaster mixed < master women’s;

^hgrand master men’s < men’s & master women’s;

ⁱi great grand master men’s < men’s & master women’s

DISCUSSION

Although competition is an integral feature of sport, and to date, the distinction of this contexts has been largely overlooked in achievement goal research. The aim of this original study was to analyze dispositional orientations among Ultimate Frisbee (UF) athletes according to different divisions. UF athletes surveyed in this study revealed greater task-involving orientation. The variation of achievement goal orientations among UF athletes according to playing division revealed that mixed division athletes were more task-oriented than the other's divisions.

Task-involving climate is positively evaluated by athletes, further as demonstrated in several research studies, which is related to various positive consequences, as enjoyment or effort (^{Almagro et al., 2015}; ^{Vazou et al., 2005}). Previous evidence showed that for task-involving climate the strongest indicator is having an important role in individual sports, while in team sports it is cooperative learning (^{Castro-Sánchez et al., 2018}). According to the same authors, this significant and inverse relationship between motivational climate and individual and team sports is particularly highlighted by the greater group cohesion among team sports players. Nonetheless, even in collective sports the categorization according to competitive group could be a source of differentiation.

Our results observed a division-associated variation in dispositional orientation among UF athletes. This result is an interesting indicator about the possibility of athletes participating in mixed divisions, including both men and women in the team, perceive their performance by more self-referenced criteria. However, these indicators are not confirmed by comparing with the other divisions. The question arises whether mixed teams are more task-involving than the master's and grand masters divisions, where age / experience can be a differentiating element. It has been suggested by ^{van de Pol et al. (2012)} that perceived motivational climate may be a more individual-level construct, rather than team-level. Consequently, the variability in perceived climate in sport could be better understood considering the athletes intra-individual experiences across training and competition, although the present study only focused on competition. Regarding the ego-involving, Master Women's division scored significantly higher than the other division's. According to a previous study (^{Kavussanu, Seal, and Phillips, 2006}), as athletes emerge in the sports system, there is an increase in the emphasis over competitive aspects and normative skills, which may explain a trend for a higher ego-involving.

For the task subscale, the three most competitive divisions (women's, Men's and Mixed) present the highest values. UF is somewhat unusual as a team sport insofar as it is self-refereed even at world championship level, and athletes are expected to abide by a code of fair play, Spirit of the Game (^{Crocket, 2015}). The individual features of UF as a team sport, could be capable to improve motivational climate. In fact, several authors suggested that task-involving climate is positively associated with moral variables (Boardley & Kavussanu, 2010; ^{Cervelló et al., 2004}; Gonçalves et al., 2010; Kavussanu & Ntoumanis, 2003), collective efficacy (^{Domínguez-Escribano et al., 2017}), cooperation (^{Lameiras et al., 2014}), and positive experiences in sport (MacDonald, Dany J.; Côté, Jean; Eys, Mark; and Deakin, Janice, 2011). The results suggest that UF highlights a culture focused on self-assessment and communication, with a variety of environmental and social dynamics. A task-involving climate is created when the focus is on personal skill development regardless of how others perform (Macdonald et al., 2011). Task-involving climate provides an important intervention information to professionals whose responsibility is to lead the team to achieve task orientation goals such as coaches, and physical education teachers. According to ^{Kavussanu, Seal, and Phillips (2006)} there is evidence to suggest that achievement goals and the motivational climate play an important role in the various aspects of morality. It is possible that these variables suffer changes over the ages, and that these changes have implications for the social behavior of athletes. The same authors state that as athletes emerge in the sports system, there is an increased emphasis on competitive aspects and normative skills, with older athletes being able to perceive a motivational climate that is more ego-oriented than task-oriented, and thus, the likelihood of engaging in inappropriate behavior is higher. In UF, self-refereeing creates a form of ideological social control whereby rule violations and disputes are dealt with through a well-established 'ritual' of resolution between any two given players in a way that maximizes game flow (^{Griggs, 2011}). Further, transformational leadership and highlight the utility of examining leadership behaviors, a fruitful area of research that has the potential to influence positively on many aspects of team functioning and performance (^{Callow et al., 2009}).

Certain limitations of the current study should not be overlooked. First, we examined the theories from a quantitative perspective. Qualitative research would be useful for enlightening the formulation of flow experiences in a sport setting and its relationship to an athlete's goal orientations. The choice of survey language should be primarily determined by respondent's language proficiencies (Anne-Wil ^{Harzing et al., 2011}). Unfortunately, it was not possible to find all the native languages validated questionnaires of participants in EBUC. So, a uniform version in the English language was used. Secondly, and although a variation associated to group categorization was noted in the present study, it is not possible to clearly explain these differences since there are several factors that might influence the athlete's perception, such as age, experience, gender, or coaching motivational climate. in dispositional orientation was noted. It would be also of interest for future research to examine mixed teams in others team sports competition. This knowledge could provide athletes the opportunities to better recognize their needs and feelings. For example, in the design of a training session, the coach can give athletes the challenge to play with all team. Feedback must be focused on the developmental process and effort and not in sport results or any normative reference, something that is highly promoted during UF competitions or training. So, coaches can help athletes to focus on mastery instead of results. If coaches are not aware to highlight the best attitudes after good performances, it is possible to lose the opportunity to enhance the athlete perception of sport achievement. Therefore, we encourage coaches to balance team's ratio, to promote a good teamwork. As a self-refereed team-sport, UF has the potential to promote teamwork, task cohesion, leadership, and increase friendship-approach goals (Amoroso et al., 2021). It will be important to monitor these variables through time and in the context of training. Thus, it may provide useful data for the improvement of the profession and for the following investigations (^{Chirivella, 2016}; ^{Romero et al., 2018}). Finally, future research could extend the current study by examining the effects of team competition on SOTG and performance as a function of group size, with the same or larger groups than employed here.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, we have provided evidence to indicate that high task orientations of Ultimate Frisbee athletes define success in self-referenced terms, such as through mastering tasks or improving one's own personal skills. Different divisions were differentially influence by dispositional orientations, mixed division presents the higher task score, while the Master women's division presents the highest ego value. For the task subscale, the three divisions (women's, Men's and Mixed) have the highest scores. There are a variety of environmental and social variables that can influence the observed differentiated dispositional orientation between athletes of different divisions. It would be of interest to understand these differences by isolating some of these variables (e.g., age, gender, experience, training volume, or coach-created motivational climate).

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS

Findings from this study can be used to empower coaches to value and pursue a culture focused on self-assessment and communication, with a variety of environmental and social dynamics. As a self-refereed team-sport, UF has the potential to promote teamwork, task cohesion, leadership, and increase friendship-approach goals in different sports.