Hiller, Katharina (2025) Examining the Differences in the Need for Structure as a Distinguishing Factor for the Football Players' Tactical Playing Position and Preferred Position. Master thesis, Psychology.
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Abstract
Psychological profiling of football playing positions has been largely overlooked in sport psychology research. The present study explores position-specific psychological profiles, by looking at the strength of the need for structure (NFS). The research draws a major dichotomy between offensive and defensive tactical roles, and between a players preferred and actual playing position. We hypothesized that players preferring defensive roles would report higher NFS compared to those preferring offensive roles (H1), and that this effect would be stronger when preferred and actual positions matched (H2). Two samples were created based on strict (rigid) and more flexible (lenient) classifications. The rigid sample consisted of N = 107 male participants (M age = 24.00, SD = 5.00), while the lenient sample included N = 177 male participants (M age = 24.11, SD = 4.76). Contrary to the expectations, in both samples, we found that players preferring offensive roles demonstrated higher NFS levels than defensive players. The same effect was found for actual playing position where offensive players displayed higher NFS, across both samples. No significant interaction effects between preferred and actual positions were found. These results challenge the assumption that defensive preferences correspond to higher NFS. Future studies should investigate contextual or motivational factors that may explain the unanticipated link between positional preference and NFS. Keywords: Psychological Traits, Psychological Need for Structure, Playing Positions, Preferred Playing Positions, Football.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
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| Supervisor name: | Yperen, N. van and Niessen, A.S.M. |
| Degree programme: | Psychology |
| Differentiation route: | Talent Development and Creativity (TDC) [Master Psychology] |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Nov 2025 07:13 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Nov 2025 07:13 |
| URI: | http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/5984 |
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