IS ATHLETE BURNOUT MORE THAN JUST STRESS - A SPORT COMMITMENT PERSPECTIVE

This study examined athlete burnout from a commitment perspective, whi ch suggests that athletes can be involved in sport for a combination o f reasons related to sport attraction (want to be involved) and sport entrapment (have to be involved). According to this framework, athlete s are likely to experience burnout if they are involved in sport Prima rily for entrapment-related reasons. Female and male age-group swimmer s (N = 236) completed a questionnaire that assessed theoretical determ inants of commitment and burnout (emotional/physical exhaustion, swim devaluation. and reduced swim accomplishment). Cluster analysis was us ed to partition swimmers into profiles based on the theoretical determ inants of commitment. Subsequent analyses of variance compared emergen t cluster groups on burnout, Results revealed that athletes who exhibi ted characteristics reflecting sport entrapment generally demonstrated higher burnout scores than athletes who were primarily involved in sp ort for attraction-related reasons. These results provided support for a commitment perspective as a viable framework for understanding athl ete burnout.