Motivational State Does Not Affect All-Out Short Duration Exercise Performance

Introduction: The preferred motivational state (telic or paratelic), i.e., dominance, has been linked to the type of activity sports people participate in. As such, positive or negative performance may occur if there is a mismatch between the activity and the required state. This study set out to examine the effects of altering telic or paratelic motivational states and thus induce the “misfit effect” in order to quantify the influences on emotions and performance during allout, short duration cycle performance. Methods: Based on paratelic dominance scale (PDS) scores participants completed the Wingate anaerobic test (WAT) on two separate occasions in their preferred and non-preferred motivational state. Special video display method was used to manipulate participants to their non-preferred motivational state and verified via the telic state measure (TSM) test prior to performing the Wingate test (WT). Changes in emotion and stress levels were recorded using the tension and effort stress inventory (TESI) along with heart rate variability (HRV) data obtained from electrocardiogram (ECG). Peak power (PP), mean power (MP) and fatigue index (FI) obtained from the WT were used to assess all-out athletic performance. Results: The main findings show that there was no link between dominant motivational state and anaerobic cycle performance (p>0.05) and that successful manipulation of motivational state (p<0.05) did not influence perceived levels or physiological levels of stress (p>0.05) and did not affect all-out, short duration cycle performance (p<0.05). Conclusion: As such, coaches, support staff and athletes do not have to worry about a particular state in regards to telic or paratelic in an acute time frame, as long as the athlete’s arousal levels and emotional conditions are optimal.