Shodh Sangam, Vol.2, No.

1 : June 2013

A Comparative Study on Sports Achievement Motivation and

Sensation Seeking among Indian Athletes
1

S. Tariq Murtaza, PhD, 2Taufiq Ahmad, 3Mohd. Imran, PhD,

4
Shamshad Ahmad & 5Ravi Prakash Singh
1
Assist. Prof., Dept. of Physical Education,Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
2
Assist. Director of Physical Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
3
Dept. of Physical Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
4
Research Scholar, Dept. of Physical Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh.
5
Research Scholar, Dept. of Physical Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to compare the sports achievement motivation and
sensation seeking of male and female athletes. The total hundred (50 male All India
Intervarsity Players and 50 female All India Intervarsity Players) were selected for this
study. The age of the subjects were ranged between 18 to 28 years. The data on sports
achievement motivation of the subjects were gauged by using the questionnaire
developed by Kamlesh (1990) and the data on sensation seeking were obtain by using the
questionnaire developed by Neary and Zuckerman (1976). The t test was used to
determine the differences between the mean score of the male and female athletes.
Results revealed that there were an insignificant difference between male and female
athletes on their sports achievement motivation and significant difference were found
between male and female athletes on their sensation seeking at 0.05 level of significance
with 98 degree of freedom.
Key Words: Sports Achievement Motivation, Sensation Seeking, Male Athletes, Female
Athletes.
Introduction:
The history of athletic its roots in human prehistory. The first recorded organized
athletics events at a sports festival are the Ancient Olympic Games. At the first Games in
776 BC in Olympia, Greece, only one event was contested: the stadion footrace and the
first Olympic winner was Koroibos. In later years further running competitions have
been added. Also in the Ancient Olympic pentathlon, four of the events are part of the
track and field we have even today. The long jump, the javelin throw, the discus throw
and the stadion foot race.
Athletics events were also present at the Panhellenic Games in Greece around this
period, and they become known to Rome in 200 BC. In the Middle Ages new track and
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Shodh Sangam, Vol.2, No. 1 : June 2013

field events began developing in parts of Northern Europe. The stone put and weight
throw competitions popular among Celtic societies were precursors to the modern shot
put and hammer throw events. Also the pole vault was popular in the Northern European
Lowlands in the 18th century.
Modern competitions in athletics, took place for the first time in the 19th century.
Usually they were organised by educational institutions, military organisations and sports
clubs as competitions between rival establishments. In these competitions the hurdling
were introduced for the first time.
Sports Performance is byproduct of biological, Psychological, sociological, and physical
makeup of an individual. In games and sports not only physiological factors but also
psychological factors play a significant role in determining the performance level of an
individual. However great importance is assigned to psychological parameters in
competitive sports (Schilling & Hayashi, 2001).
The significant of psychological factors for performance enhancement of the athletes has
been forcefully stressed by many experts (Ali 1996; Khan 2003; Nisar 2008 and Imran
2012). They advocated that individuals are affected not merely by their physical and
techno tactical ability but also by their psychological makeup.
Now a days sports achievement motivation has been discovered as a strong
psychological factor in the display of behaviour of a person. Achievement motivation
behaviour of an individual has been found to be rewarding in competitive sports. It is a
force that engages a sports person in task which are challenging and hard to attained. The
nature of sports and physical activities are generally achievement oriented. Personal
success in team and individual events can be evaluated against standards. One of the
reasons of variability in behaviour of an individual is sports achievement, situation is that
sports person perceive situation in different ways, because they have different needs for
sports excellence.
Sports scientist proved that sensation seeking is an interesting personality trait that has its
effect on several aspects of our lives. It affects what activities we prefer, what sports or
occupations we choose. Personality traits are underlying characteristics of an individual
that are relatively stable over time, and explain regularities in people's behaviors. When
thinking about people we know well, we will naturally have noticed how we differ, and
our everyday language is full of ways of describing and comparing people. People may
be outgoing or unsociable, shy or confident, friendly or rude, and so on. People
instinctively observe that persons react differently to the same situations, and these
differences are caused by natural variations in personality traits. Many studies involving
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sensation seeking have been conducted across a variety of anti-social risk- taking
behaviours, such as drug use and unsafe sexual practices, as well as more socially
acceptable forms of risk-taking behaviours (Zerevski et al.,1998)
Methodology:
Subjects
A total of hundred (50 male and 50 female) All-India Intervarsity players were randomly
selected for this study. The age of the selected subjects were ranged between 18 to 28
years.
Instrument.
Investigators used the sport achievement motivation Test (SAMT) developed by M. L.
Kamlesh (1990) to obtain data on sport achievement motivation of the subjects.
Procedure
The data were collected from the various university players who participated in All India
Inter-University Athletic. Investigators used the sport achievement motivation test
developed by Kamlesh (1990). The tool consists of 20 incomplete statements which can
be computed by choosing either of two proposed parts against each statement was used.
Statistical Analysis
The t test was used to determine the differences between the means of athletes scores.
Further the level of significance was set at 0.05 level.
Result
Table 1
Indicating mean difference between male and female All India Intervarsity Athletes
on their sports achievement motivation.
Mean

SD

Cal. t

Male Athletes

26.96

6.65

0.448

Female Athletes

26.48

7.48

*Significant at 0.05 level of significance

Tab t = 1.660

When we go through table 3.1 it is documented that calculated t was Lesser than
tabulated t which indicated that insignificant difference between male and female
athletes on sports achievement motivation at 0.05 level of significance with 98 degree of
freedom.

Shodh Sangam, Vol.2, No. 1 : June 2013

Figure 1
Showing graphical representation of mean difference between male and female
athletes.
Table 2
Indicating mean difference between male and female All India Intervarsity Athletes
on their sensation seeking
Mean

SD

Cal. t

Male Athletes

56.6

7.18

4.23

Female Athletes

52.6

6.96

*Significant at 0.05 level of significance

Tab t = 1.660

When we go through table 3.2 it is documented that calculated t was more than
tabulated t which indicated that significant difference between male and female athletes
on sensation seeking at 0.05 level of significance with 98 degree of freedom.

Shodh Sangam, Vol.2, No. 1 : June 2013

Figure 2
Showing graphical representation of mean difference between male and female
athletes.
Discussion
The result of the study showed that there was an insignificant mean difference between
male and female athletes. Male athletes were found to possess slightly more score as
compare to female athletes. It is due to fact that both of the athletes want to achieve
higher level of performance in the competition. The result may be corroborated with the
findings Singh, Ahmad and Hussain (2010). They found the insignificant difference
between male and female north zone badminton players in their sports achievement
motivation.
The result of the study showed that there was a significant mean difference between male
and female athletes in their sensation seeking. Male athletes were found to possess more
sensation seeking trait as compared to the female athletes. The finding of the study
corroborated with the study of Zuckerman and Neeb (1980), and Murtaza Imran and
Zaitoon (2012) wherein they found that male showed the highest level of overall
sensation seekingas compare to the female
Conclusion
On the basis of obtained results it is concluded that an insignificant difference between
male and female athletes on their sports achievement motivation and significant
difference were found between male and female athletes on their sensation seeking.
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Shodh Sangam, Vol.2, No. 1 : June 2013

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