Weinberg, R. (1979). Intrinsic motivation in a competitive setting. Medicine and Science in Sports, 11, 146-149.

After a successful experience, Ss exhibited higher intrinsic motivation when compared to Ss in failure conditions. Males displayed more intrinsic motivation after success whereas females demonstrated more after failure.

There appears to be a sex difference in the nature of the response to success. Males increase their intrinsic motivation while females respond similarly after failure. This suggests a need for a teacher or coach to respond differently to the way tasks are performed depending upon the sex of the individual. Two possibilities are:

1. Respond to males' success with positivism and focus on the events over which the athlete had control.
2. Respond similarly to females' success, but also emphasize errors which were made and then suggest internal control actions which could be used to correct the faults.

Implication. The way success is handled depends upon the sex of the athlete. While males should be showered with attributions to self-controlled events, females can handle some negative appraisal, particularly if it is related to gaining self-control to remove the fault or failure in the future.

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