Achievement goal profiles, perceived ability and participation motivation for sport and physical activity

Abstract

Boys and girls of secondary school level aged 14 to 19 (N = 1214) who took part in sport and physical activity in addition to their compulsory physical education classes were asked to complete the Participation Motivation Inventory (PMI; Gill, Gross, & Huddleston, 1983), the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ; Duda & Nicholls, 1992), and the Perceived Physical Ability (PA) subscale of the Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (PSES; Ryckman, Robbins, Thornton, & Cantrell, 1982). Factor analysis with varimax rotation of the PMI items produced seven motive structures similar to those obtained by Gill et al. (1983). Multivariate and univariate ANOVA techniques produced significant sport motive differences among four goal profiles resulting from a cluster analysis (moderate task-moderate ego, high task-high ego, low task-high ego, and high task-low ego) in youths. The high taskhigh ego group in general subscribed to both the intrinsic- and extrinsic-typed sport motives more strongly than the other groups and exhibited the strongest motive strengths. Sport motive differences varied as a function of PA, gender and participation level. However, the relationship between goal profiles and sport motives was not moderated by PA, gender or participation level. We conclude that it is the combination of task and ego orientations, rather than the level of PA, that is important for the adoption of participation motives in youth.