Question

In the journey to Pyeongchang 2018, how does Competence Motivation Theory (Weiss & Chaumeton, 1992) explain Nathan Chen’s achievement behavior?

I cant figure out how to start, so any help would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Competence Motivation Theory is the idea that an individual’s confidence and motivation depends on how competent they feel they are about their skill.

Nathan Chen is an American figure skater who recently won the Bronze at the Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics. Chen became the first individual to perform six quads or quadruple jumps in a free skate which helped him score the points that won him the bronze.

Prior to his performance that won him the bronze; Chen’s performance was quite flawed. However, in his performance that followed, Chen managed to make a comeback. Apparently, after his poor performance, this time Chen decided not to dwell on his errors and simply went off to sleep.

He came back to the rink to deliver a glorious performance. Such traits indicate a level of confidence in oneself. The ability to forgive oneself and focus on the positive would have probably been a sign of a motivated individual. This is why it is presumed that the Competence Motivation Theory is what led to the commendable performance by Chen.