Examining the Effect of Participation Level on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sports Motivation Among University Athletes of Lahore, Pakistan

Sports motivation is an important psychological factor influencing the behaviour and performance of athletes. According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), athletes' motivation is broadly categorised into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Despite numerous studies from international contexts, the relationship between participation levels and motivation among university athletes in Pakistan has received limited empirical attention. The study aimed to examine the impact of participation levels on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation among university athletes in Lahore, Pakistan. A cross-sectional research design was used. Data were collected from 234 university athletes of Punjab University (Public) and the University of Lahore (Private) using convenience sampling. Participants were categorised into three groups: Beginner (n = 53), intermediate (n = 119), and elite (n = 62). The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to test group differences, followed by Mann-Whitney U post-hoc comparisons with Bonferroni correction. Results showed significant differences in intrinsic motivation across participation levels, H (2) =15.074, P = .001, η² = .057. Post-hoc analyses indicated that beginner athletes showed significantly less intrinsic motivation than both intermediate and professional/elite athletes. However, extrinsic motivation revealed a significant difference overall, H (2) = 6.983, p = .030, η² = .022; however, none of the pairwise comparisons was significant after Bonferroni correction. The Spearman correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive relationship between participation level and intrinsic motivation (rs = .240, p < .001), while the relationship with extrinsic motivation was relatively weak (rs = .156, p = .017). Higher participation levels are associated with stronger intrinsic motivation among university athletes, while extrinsic motivation appears to be relatively stable across participation levels. The results align with Self-Determination Theory (SDT) that increasing sports participation can enhance competence and autonomy, thereby strengthening intrinsic motivation. These findings contribute to the limited literature on sports motivation in Pakistan and provide practical suggestions for promoting an intrinsically motivating sports environment in universities.