The association between the perceived coach–athlete relationship and athletes’ basic psychological needs

In this study we investigated the association between the perceived coach–athlete relationship and athletes’ 3 basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Participants were 328 Korean collegiate athletes from various sports. The study results showed that, overall, the perceived coach–athlete relationship was related to the athletes’ basic psychological needs. Specifically, commitment and closeness were significantly correlated with competence and autonomy, whereas complementarity was significantly correlated with competence and relatedness.