The impact of coach and parent-created motivational climate on moral behaviours of Chinese student-athletes: examining the independent and interactive effects

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of coach- and parent-created motivational climates on the moral behaviour of Chinese student-athletes and to determine whether there were any interactive effects between them. To build on previous research, we proposed the hypothesis of independent effects and two types of interactive effects: synergistic interaction, where both parties work together, and compensatory interaction, where one party complements the other when it underperforms. To test our hypotheses, we gathered data from 255 Chinese student-athletes (159 male, 96 female, M age = 17.55) on their perceived motivational climate created by their coaches and parents, and their self-evaluations of moral behaviour. The hierarchical regression analysis showed that both mastery and performance climates created by coaches and parents had independent effects on all moral behaviours. Additionally, synergistic and compensatory interactive effects were observed on certain moral behaviours. Our study emphasises the crucial role of coaches and parents working together to establish a positive and supportive mastery motivational climate that encourages moral behaviour among Chinese student-athletes.