Moral Functioning in Sport: An Achievement Goal Perspective

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kavussanu ◽  
Glyn C. Roberts

This study examined the role of achievement goals on indices of moral functioning (i.e., moral judgment, intention and behavior), unsportsmanlike attitudes, and judgments about the legitimacy of intentionally injurious acts in college basketball players. Male (n = 56) and female (n = 143) athletes completed questionnaires assessing the aforementioned variables. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences according to gender on the variables of interest. Specifically, male athletes reported higher ego orientation, lower task orientation, lower levels of moral functioning, and greater approval of unsportsmanlike behaviors, and they were more likely than females to judge injurious acts as legitimate. For the female sample, canonical correlation analysis indicated the presence of a significant but weak relationship between goal orientations and the set of moral variables. Higher ego orientation was related to lower levels of the judgment and intention indices of moral functioning and greater acceptance of intentionally injurious acts. Although this relationship was significant, the strength of the association between the two sets of variables accounted for only 9% of the variance in the set of moral variables.

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kavussanu ◽  
Nikos Ntoumanis

This study examined whether participation in contact sports influences moral functioning within the sport context, and whether these effects are mediated by ego orientation; the role of task orientation on moral functioning was also examined. Participants (N = 221) were college athletes participating in basketball, soccer, field hockey, and rugby. They completed questionnaires assessing sport participation, goal orientations, moral functioning, and social desirability. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that participation in contact sports positively predicted ego orientation, which in turn predicted low levels of moral functioning. The direct effects of sport participation on moral functioning became nonsignificant in the presence of ego orientation, indicating that the latter construct mediates the relationship between the first two variables. Task orientation corresponded to high levels of moral functioning. These findings help us further understand the processes operating in contact sports and are discussed in terms of their implications for eliminating unsportspersonlike conduct from the sport context.


Author(s):  
Natalia Martínez-González ◽  
Francisco L. Atienza ◽  
Joan L. Duda ◽  
Isabel Balaguer

Findings in different contexts suggest that task orientation and ego orientation are related to adaptive and maladaptive motivational patterns, respectively. In sport, these personal dispositions could influence other important variables such as the goals that athletes pursue (and why they pursue them) during the season and their well- and ill-being. The main purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between athletes’ dispositional goal orientations, their goal motives, and their reported well-being (subjective vitality) and ill-being (physical and emotional exhaustion). The study involved 414 Spanish university athletes (206 female and 208 male) with an age range of 17 to 33 years (M = 20.61; SD = 2.58) that completed a package of questionnaires at the beginning of the season. Results of path analysis revealed that athletes’ task orientation was negatively associated to physical and emotional exhaustion indirectly through autonomous and controlled goal motives. In contrast, ego orientation was positively related to physical and emotional exhaustion via its link to controlled goal motives. Athletes’ task orientation directly and positively predicted subjective vitality, even though goal motives were not significant mediators. These findings support previous evidence about the protective role of athletes’ task orientation, in contrast to ego orientation, confirming its positive relationship with well-being and its negative one with ill-being. Additionally, it extends the knowledge regarding interdependencies between goal orientations and goal motives and how both contribute to athletes’ optimal or compromised functioning.


1995 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lavon Williams ◽  
Diane L. Gill

Understanding the role of perceived competence in the motivation of sport and physical activity is an important endeavor. This study attempted to examine the role of perceived competence by (a) investigating its relationship with goal orientations as hypothesized by Nicholls’s theory of achievement motivation, and (b) testing a proposed model linking goal orientations and motivated behavior. Students (N = 174) completed questionnaires assessing goal orientations, perceived competence, intrinsic interest, and effort. Regression analyses revealed that task orientation was a good predictor of effort; however, the interaction of ego orientation and perceived competence failed to adequately predict effort. Path analysis results revealed that task goal orientation, but not ego orientation, directly influenced perceived competence, intrinsic interest, and effort. In addition, intrinsic interest played a mediating role between perceived competence and effort and between task goal orientation and effort.


1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Newton ◽  
Mary D. Fry

The purpose of this study was of examine the motivational perspectives of athletes participating in the Senior Olympic Games. One hundred thirty-seven senior athletes (54 males. 82 females, and 1 nonidentifier) completed measures of goal orientations, beliefs about the causes of success in sport, intrinsic motivation, and views about the purpose of sport. Multivariate analysis revealed a positive association between task orientation and intrinsic motivation, the belief that success in sport is achieved through hard work, and self-improvement-based purposes of sport. In contrast, ego orientation was associated with the belief that success in sport is achieved by those who are gifted with natural ability and who know how to maximize external and deceptive factors. Further, ego orientation was linked to the belief that the purpose of sport was for personal gain. The motivational implications of the present findings are discussed based on the tenets of goal perspective theory.


2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G.H. Dunn ◽  
Janice Causgrove Dunn ◽  
Daniel G. Syrotuik

This study examined the relationship between perfectionism and goal orientations among male Canadian Football players (M age = 18.24 years). Athletes (N = 174) completed inventories to assess perfectionist orientations and goal orientations in sport. Perfectionism was conceptualized as a multidimensional construct and was measured with a newly constructed sport-specific version of the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS; Frost, Marten, Lahart, & Rosenblate, 1990). Exploratory factor analysis of the modified MPS revealed four sport-related perfectionism dimensions: perceived parental pressure, personal standards, concern over mistakes, and perceived coach pressure. Canonical correlation analysis obtained two significant canonical functions (RC1 = .36; RC2 = .30). The first one revealed that task orientation was positively correlated with an adaptive profile of perfectionism. The second one revealed that ego orientation was positively associated with a maladaptive profile of perfectionism. Results are discussed in the context of Hamachek’s (1978) conceptualization of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Martins ◽  
António Rosado ◽  
Vítor Ferreira ◽  
Rui Biscaia

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between motivation, engagement and personal and social responsibility among athletes. Based on the literature, a survey was conducted including measures of motivation, considering task orientation and ego orientation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and amotivation. We also measured the components of engagement (dedication, confidence, vigor and enthusiasm) and the components of personal and social responsibility. A total of 517 athletes from different types of sports participated in the study. The results gathered through a structural equation model revealed that task orientation had the strongest relationship with personal responsibility and social responsibility, followed by engagement. Self-determination levels were not associated with personal and social responsibility. These results suggest that monitoring of task orientation and engagement levels should be performed by coaches as a strategy to develop personal and social responsibility among their athletes. Moreover, findings from this study provide scholars with a tool to aid them in managing athletes’ levels of personal and social responsibility.


1999 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
John G.H. Dunn ◽  
Janice Causgrove Dunn

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between goal orientations, perceptions of athletic aggression, and sportspersonship among elite male youth ice hockey players (M age = 13.08 years). Athletes (N = 171) completed questionnaires to assess their goal orientations, attitudes toward directing aggressive behaviors during competition, and non-aggression-related sportspersonship. In accordance with Vallerand, Deshaies, Cuerrier, Brière, and Pelletier (1996), sportspersonship was conceptualized as a five-dimensional construct. Multiple regression analyses revealed that high ego-oriented athletes were more inclined to approve of aggressive behaviors than those with low ego orientation. Players with higher levels of task orientation (rather than low task orientation) had higher sportspersonship levels on three dimensions. An analysis of goal orientation patterns revealed that regardless of ego orientation, low (compared to high) task orientation was more motivationally detrimental to several sportspersonship dimensions. The practical implications of these results are discussed in the context of Nicholls’s (1989) achievement goal theory.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-94
Author(s):  
Ioannis Proios

Introduction: According to cognitive identity theory internal components can be likely to influence athletic identity formation. The purpose of the present study was to examine relationship between athletic identity of people with physical disabilities and goal perspectives (task and ego) and volitional competences (persistence, purposefulness and expedience). Material and methods: The participants were 134 people with physical disability (n=103 men, and n=31 women). Their age ranging from 14 to 67 years (M=34.98, SD=10.59). All participants participated in physical activities (competitive and recreational). The subjects filled in three questionnaires: Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), Task and Ego Orientation in Sports Questionnaire (TEOSQ) and Measure Athletes’ Volition – Short (MAV-S). Results: The results revealed that goal orientations and volitional competencies can be predictors of athletic identity dimensions for people with disabilities participating in physical activities. In addition, they suggested that task orientation predicts the three identities (social β=0.43, exclusivity β=0.31 and negative affectivity β=0.38), purposefulness competence predicts two identities (social β=0.34 and exclusivity β=0.30), while persistence competence predicts the negative affectivity identity (β=0.49). Conclusions: In conclusion, dispositional factors achievement goals and volitional competencies can be predicting the athletic identity dimensions.


1996 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glyn C. Roberts ◽  
Darren C. Treasure ◽  
Maria Kavussanu

The present study examined the relationship between dispositional achievement goal orientations and satisfaction and beliefs about success in sport. Participants were 333 students who were administered the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ) (Roberts & Balague, 1989,1991; Roberts, Treasure, & Balague, 1995), Beliefs about Success, and Satisfaction/Interest/Boredom Questionnaires (Duda & Nicholls, 1992). Consistent with theory (Nicholls, 1984, 1989) and previous research, task and ego goal orientations were found to be orthogonal. Following an extreme group split of the task and ego subscales of the POSQ, results of a 2 X 2 (High/Low Ego; High/Low Task) multivariate analyses of variance revealed a significant interaction effect between task and ego orientation. Specifically, participants high in ego and low in task orientation believed effort to be less a cause of success while high tasMow ego-oriented individuals were the least likely to attribute success to external factors. The findings are discussed in terms of their motivational implications for athletes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiung-Huang Li ◽  
Likang Chi

This study explored the main and interactive effects of goal orientations and perceived competence on intensity and direction of the symptoms of precompetitive cognitive and somatic anxiety. 109 handball players from 16 high school teams ( M = 16.2 yr., SD = 1.5) participated. All were asked to complete the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, Perceived Competence Questionnaire, and a modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2. Using separated multiple hierarchical regression analyses, direction of the symptoms of precompetitive somatic anxiety was predicted by perceived competence and interaction of ego orientation x perceived competence. Perceived competence and the interaction of ego orientation x task orientation x perceived competence were significant predictors of direction of the symptoms of precompetitive cognitive anxiety. The results suggest that perceptions of competence and task orientation moderate the relationship between ego orientation and direction of the symptoms of precompetitive anxiety.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document