Abstract

This study examined the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in the relationship between perceived parental support and the intention to continue sport among Korean university football players. Using a sample of male university athletes registered with the Korea Football Association, structural equation modeling was applied to test a mediation model grounded in self-determination theory. Participants completed questionnaires measuring parental support, intrinsic motivation, and intention to continue sport, using 7-point Likert scales. The results showed that parental support did not have a significant direct effect on sport continuation intention, but it had a significant positive effect on intrinsic motivation. In turn, intrinsic motivation strongly predicted the intention to continue sport. Mediation analysis confirmed that intrinsic motivation fully mediated the relationship between parental support and sport continuation intention, indicating that parental support influences athletes' long-term engagement exclusively through the enhancement of intrinsic motivation. The proposed model showed strong predictive validity and accounted for a substantial portion of the variance in sport continuation intention. These findings highlight that fostering intrinsic motivation is essential for sustaining athletic commitment and that parental influence operates primarily through motivational pathways. This study contributes to the sport psychology literature by empirically demonstrating the psychological mechanisms behind athletic persistence in a university context and suggests practical strategies for designing interventions that support sustained sport participation among collegiate athletes.