Task and ego goal orientations in competitive sport

Abstract

Achievement goal theory (AGT) is a dominant theoretical framework. The purposes of this review were (1) to provide a summary of the task and ego goal orientations literature in competitive sport as measured by the Task and Ego Orientations in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) or the Perceptions of Success in Sport Questionnaire (POSQ), (2) to test the interdependence of the two goal orientations, and (3) to provide the estimated means for both orientations across a number of historically examined moderator variables. 260 studies met inclusion criteria totaling 80,959 unique participants across 39 countries and 32 sports. Youth samples were nearly 50% of all included studies. The meta-analyzed intercorrelations (rw=.18, z=9.96, p<.000) supported the conceptualized interdependence of the two goal orientations. The estimated mean values were 4.15+.30 (task) and 3.04+.51 (ego). However, differences, POSQ compared to TEOSQ, existed in the estimated means (g=.92 task; g=1.09 ego). Thus, the TEOSQ and POSQ samples for the moderator variables (i.e. sex, sport level, sport type, and collective/individualistic countries) were examined separately. Results both supported and refuted the hypotheses and also differed by measure. Because of TEOSQ and POSQ inconsistencies, an additional analysis was undertaken to examine whether the TEOSQ and POSQ differed to a common correlate motivation climate. This analysis revealed measurement differences in the ego to ego climate relationships. In conclusion, AGT has been extensively researched in competitive sport. The inconsistent pattern of results raises a number of future research questions.

The 2 × 2 Achievement Goals in Sport and Physical Activity Contexts: A Meta-Analytic Test of Context, Gender, Culture, and Socioeconomic Status Differences and Analysis of Motivations, Regulations, Affect, Effort, and Physical Activity Correlates

“…Another limitation is the unknown reason or reasons for the differing patterns in some instances of results, based on the response scale. Somewhat analogous to the present limitation is the one raised by Lochbaum and his colleagues [8,9] when results differed by the dichotomous achievement goal scale. Inconsistency in results by scale or response scale only adds confusion to the achievement goal literature.…”

“…We hypothesized that the mastery-approach goal will be endorsed significantly and very meaningfully more than the other goals. Our hypothesis is supported by the scale development data in all three domains [13][14][15], and the most recent dichotomous achievement goal meta-analyses reporting the task goal being endorsed more than the ego goal [8,19].…”

“…Elliot's approach-avoidance goals stem from the dichotomous achievement goal framework [7]. A recent meta-analysis of 260 studies, concerning the dichotomous goal competitive sports literature [8] and a follow-up meta-analysis with over 700 achievement goal correlate samples [9], show that the dichotomous framework is still much researched. In this dichotomous framework, there are two orientations by which personal competency is judged.…”

“…Much research [20] has examined the individualism, more independent, and collectivism, more interdependent. Additionally, Lochbaum and his colleagues [8] tested this hypothesis within the dichotomous achievement goal framework and reported moderate to strong support, that individualistic countries promoted the task goal orientation more so than collectivist countries. Individualism-collectivism hypotheses have been found to hold many core psychological constructs, such as self-concept and attribution and cognitive style [20].…”

Former Road Cyclists Still Involved in Cycling Report Lower Burnout Levels Than Those Who Abandoned This Sport

“…Such postulations have been corroborated in the sports context (Gustafsson et al, 2017a), with the observation that when athletes have a high intrinsic motivational profile, they have lower levels of burnout (Gustafsson et al, 2018a). In a complementary way, other researchers postulate that sport motivation is also determined by the achievement goal theory (Nicholls, 1984;Ames, 1995); in particular, intrinsic motivation would be linked to the task goals-those goals depending on the athlete's effortrather than to the ego goals, whose achievement is related to comparison with others in a range of superiority-inferiority (Lochbaum et al, 2016;Balaguer et al, 2017). The establishment of task-oriented goals, as well as of an empowering climate that favors athletes' self-determination, is related to a lower presence of burnout (Lonsdale and Hodge, 2011;Vitali et al, 2014).…”