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This study examined the relationship between an athlete's goal perspective (i.e., task or ego orientation) and the perceived purpose of sport among male and female high school athletes. The sport-specific measure of task and ego orientation was found to have a stable factor structure and high internal consistency. Factor analysis of the Purpose of Sport Questionnaire revealed seven factors: sport should (a) teach the value of mastery and cooperation, (b) show people how to be physically active for life, (c) make good citizens, (d) make people competitive, (e) help individuals obtain a high status career, (f) enhance self-esteem, and (g) show people how to get ahead and increase their social status. Results indicated that the importance placed on skill mastery and personal improvement in sport (task orientation) positively related to the beliefs that sport should enhance self-esteem and teach people to try their test, cooperate, and be good citizens. Ego orientation was a positive predictor of the view that sport involvement should enhance one's self-esteem and social status.

The purpose of this paper is to review Nicholls' developmentally based theory of achievement motivation and apply this perspective to children's sport. Five areas of research are reviewed that support the relevance of Nicholls' theory to the sport domain. Based on Nicholls' framework, several considerations are presented for future research on the development of achievement motivation in sport.

Sport and exercise focused research is reviewed stemming from a goal perspective model of motivation. It is suggested that this body of literature provides insight into the variability in physical activity patterns among girls and women. Further, evidence is presented which indicates that differences in the goal perspectives operating in the athletic setting relate to whether female athletic participation is health promotive or health endangering.

This study examined the existence and nature of dispositional goal orientations and perceived reasons for sport success among adolescent disabled athletes. Also, the interdependence between personal goals and views about the determinants of sport achievement was determined. Fifty-nine athletes with physical disabilities completed the 13-item Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire specific to wheelchair basketball and a 21-item questionnaire concerning beliefs about the causes of sport success. Factor analyses revealed two distinct goal-belief dimensions. The first dimension indicated that task orientation was associated with the views that practice, exerted effort, and external factors lead to success. The second dimension suggested that ego orientation was coupled with the beliefs that ability, chance, taking an illegal advantage, or all three result in accomplishment in sport. The present findings are contrasted with previous classroom research and studies of able-bodied sport participants, and their implications for the understanding of motivation are provided.

This study examined the relationship of students’ goal orientation to their beliefs about what leads to success in physical education and perceptions of the purposes of physical education. High school students (N = 144,78 females and 66 males) completed a modified version of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire and measures of beliefs and perceived purposes specific to physical education class. Results indicated that students high in task orientation were significantly more likely to believe that success is achieved through intrinsic interest/effort/cooperation than were those low in task orientation. High ego-oriented students believed that success is achieved when students possess high ability more so than low ego-oriented students. The high task/low ego students were most likely to reject the notion that success in physical education occurs when students know how to use deceptive tactics and were less likely to perceive that an important function of physical education is to provide an easy class.

The present study examined the perceived causes of success among elite adolescent tennis players and investigated the function of gender in the interdependence of goal orientation and beliefs concerning tennis achievement. Male and female adolescents (N = 121) completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) specific to tennis and a questionnaire tapping beliefs about success in this sport. Factor analyses revealed two conceptually coherent personal goal-belief dimensions for the females. The first was comprised of ego orientation and the beliefs that ability and maintaining a positive impression were the primary causes of success. The second consisted of a task orientation coupled with the belief that effort and a de-emphasis on external factors and deceptive tactics would lead to tennis accomplishment. In the case of males, an ego goal-belief dimension emerged. The motivational implications of assuming these differing goal-beliefs in youth sport is discussed.

The major purpose of this study was to determine the importance of being able to assign ability to self in interpreting outcomes as success or failure in a sport context. The relationship between self-assessments of demonstrated ability and subjective perception of success and failure was investigated for both males and females. This study also entailed a preliminary examination of the variables that lead to perceptions of ability in sport among males and females. A field study was conducted with men and women racquetball players. Prior to a two-person racquetball game, subjects were given a questionnaire assessing their own and opponent's perceived ability, self-confidence, reasons for enrolling in racquetball class, and the importance placed on winning. Immediately after the contest a second questionnaire was administered which tapped perceived satisfaction in the game (subjective success and failure), perceptions of own and opponent's demonstrated ability, and the causal attributions of winners and losers. Regression analyses revealed that perception of demonstrated ability was significantly related to perceptions of success and failure for both men and women. Results indicated, however, that men and women used different information variables to determine whether ability had been displayed.

The purpose of this interdisciplinary study was to assess the impact of arousal on motor performance by examining the kinematic characteristics of a stepping motion in high and low arousal conditions on 9 subjects. Raw data were recorded from a rotary shutter video camera and digitized automatically by interfacing the videomotion analyzer with the digitizing board of a microcomputer. Three-dimensional orbital plots of the hip, knee, and ankle angle covariations revealed that the subjects used two different strategies to perform the skill. Phase plane analyses revealed a tight coupling between joint position and velocity in both conditions for the hip and the knee. Differences in movement kinematics between low and high arousal conditions were most visible in the ankle joint whose phase planes displayed an increased number of self-crossings (loops) in the high arousal condition. It was suggested that under high arousal, what was once automatic and smooth in terms of the ankle joint now comes under more volitional control, which is less smooth and efficient. Practical implications of the present study are suggested.

The-role of race and ethnicity in explaining variability in human behavior has long been considered in the anthropological and sociological studies of play, games, and sport. This paper suggests ways in which the field of sport and exercise psychology might more systematically begin to incorporate factors of race and ethnicity into its research agendas. The paper is divided into four major sections. The first section provides evidence of a dearth of such research in the field of sport and exercise psychology. The second section presents an overview of current work that highlights ethnic/racial differences in motor performance, physical activity levels, and recreational sport participation. The third section explores the theoretical relevance of comparative research on ethnic/racial similarities and differences in psychological processes and behavior. Finally, potential research methodologies that might be used in psychological research in sport and exercise contexts are presented. Implications for both basic and applied work are offered.

Grounded in the basic needs mini-theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this study examined the interplay among perceptions of the social environment manifested in vocational dance schools, basic need satisfaction, and indices of elite dancers’ well- and ill-being. The hypothesized mediating role of need satisfaction was also tested. Dancers (N = 392) completed a questionnaire tapping the targeted variables. Structural equation modeling supported a model in which perceptions of task-involving dance environments positively predicted need satisfaction. Perceived ego-involving climates negatively corresponded with competence and relatedness. Perceptions of autonomy support were positively related to autonomy and relatedness. Need satisfaction positively predicted positive affect. Competence and relatedness satisfaction corresponded negatively to reported negative affect. Emotional and physical exhaustion was not related to need satisfaction. Partial support emerged for the assumed mediation of the needs. Results highlight the relevance of task-involving and autonomy-supportive dance climates for elite dancers’ need satisfaction and healthful engagement in vocational dance.