158 | Chapter 15 & Deci, 2000). People who are intrinsically motivated, practising sport for its inherent satisfactions, are most likely to sustain sport participation during the transition to adulthood, followed by those who are extrinsically motivated, thanks to sport activity enablers and anchors and the positive consequences of sport (see the upper section of Table 5.2 for more detailed conclusions regarding the willingness to participate in sport). Not “sport-minded” people, who are not motivated, are not likely to (continue to) practise sport during the transition to adulthood. Interestingly, it seems that practising sport for pure fun, competition, and to get better (i.e., out of an intrinsic motivation;) becomes less important during the transition to adulthood, while practising sport as a beneficial leisure time activity becomes more important, for example to stay fit and healthy, have quality time with significant others, have an outlet and relax, or to give the good example (i.e., out of an extrinsic motivation). This indicates a shift from employing the intrinsic value if sport to employing its instrumental value. This shift is illustrated in the study of Tiessen-Raaphorst et al. (2019) as well, showing that the chance that youngsters will participate in sports increases if they consider the competitive aspect of sport to be important, whereas adults are more likely to be active when they find it important to improve their health and fitness through sport. The willingness to participate in sport activities seems to be compromised by some competing event-related activities that respond to the extrinsic motivations to practise sport as they have a similar or even greater instrumental value. Specifically, physical activities related to work or care tasks can result in a more healthy and active living for some people, who may therefore find it permissible to not practise sport so much or not at all after becoming a professional or a parent. Besides, for some, non-sport related social activities serve as more valuable quality time with significant others or a better outlet for stress or a way to relax, compared to sport activities. This particularly seems true for people who are not very “sport-minded”. Further, an interesting dichotomy in the willingness to practise sport or not comes to light in the narratives considering increased physical and mental constraints during the transition to adulthood due to the occurrence of the major life events. For some this is a clear and important reason to not practise sport, as they perceive it as impossible, not desirable or detrimental to their health. For others, by contrast, it is an important reason to continue or start sport participation, as they experience physical and mental benefits from it, helping
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