Preliminary validation of a brazilian version of the sport motivation scale

Abstract

The Sport Motivation Scale was firstly developed in French and later translated into English and validated by Pelletier et al. (1995). It is based on the principles of self-determination theory. The present study translated the English version into Portuguese to access and validate it with Brazilian athletes using a sample of 419 athletes (127 women and 292 men) from ten sports. The Brazilian version of the scale showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency and temporal stability over a four-week period. The results of a confirmatory factor analysis partially supported the seven-factor structure. Finally, gender differences were found in all subscales. Taken together, these findings support the use of the Brazilian version of the scale for the assessment of motivation in sport.