Correlates of achievement goal orientations in physical activity: A systematic review of research

Abstract

There has been a plethora of studies in the past decade investigating task and ego achievement goal orientations in physical activity settings and how they might be associated with various cognitive, affective and behavioral variables. Although comprehensive narrative reviews of the field exist, no systematic review has been reported except one meta-analysis on only goals and affect. The present paper, therefore, reports a systematic review of 10 correlates of achievement goal orientations across 98 studies and 110 independent samples (total N = 21,076). Studies are invariably cross-sectional, leading to an inability to conclude causal effects, and are biased towards young people. Frequencies and effect size calculations show associations of varying magnitude between a task orientation and (a) beliefs that effort produces success (positive association: +); (b) motives of skill development and team membership (+); (c) beliefs that the purpose of sport/PE is for fostering mastery, fitness, and self-esteem (+); (d) perceptions of competence (+); (e) positive affect (+); (f) negative affect (negative association: -); (g) parental task orientation (+); and (h) various measures or markers of behavior (+). Associations of varying magnitude were found between an ego orientation and (a) beliefs that possessing ability produces success (+); (b) motives of status/recognition and competition (+); (c) beliefs that the purpose of sport/PE is for social status (+); (d) perceptions of competence (+); (e) unsportspersonlike attitudes, endorsement of intentionally aggressive sport acts, and the display of aggressive behaviors in sport (+); and (f) parental ego orientation (+).

Achievement goals and motivational responses in tennis: Does the context matter?

“…Only task orientation positively predicted enjoyment/interest in both contexts. These findings are consistent with the results of past research (Biddle et al, 2003) and suggest that the relationship between task orientation and enjoyment is robust. Previous research has also shown that out of six sources of enjoyment, competence derived through the attainment of personal achievement standards is the most important source for an athlete's enjoyment, whereas competence derived through being better than others and gaining recognition from others is the least important source (Wiersma, 2001).…”

“…To date, the effects of goal orientations on a variety of motivational responses have been typically examined in the general context of sport, and research has revealed the beneficial effects of task orientation in this context (Biddle et al, 2003). However, athletes constantly make the transition between organised training and competition.…”

“…These variables have been positively associated with task orientation and unrelated to ego orientation in the general context of sport (Biddle et al, 2003). However, these relationships may vary as a function of the specific contexts of training versus competition.…”

“…To date, the vast majority of sport studies using the achievement goal framework have examined achievement goals in the general context of sport (Biddle, Wang, Kavussanu, & Spray, 2003). However, given that certain conditions are assumed to facilitate task versus ego involvement, it may be important to consider the two core sport sub-contexts I : training and I We refer to training and competition as "sub-contexts" when we discuss them in relation to the general context of sport.…”

“…We hypothesized that task orientation would positively predict all motivational responses in both contexts (Biddle et al, 2003;Harwood et al, 2004;Papaioannou & Kouli, 1999) and that ego orientation would be unrelated to these variables in training but would positively predict effort in competition (Harwood & Hardy, 2001). We made no predictions regarding ego orientation and enjoyment, and psychological skill use, in competition.…”