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Achievement goals and perceived ability predict investment in learning a sport task
Author(s) -
Cury Francois,
Biddle Stuart,
Sarrazin Philippe,
Famose Jean Pierre
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1997.tb01245.x
Subject(s) - psychology , expectancy theory , need for achievement , id, ego and super ego , task (project management) , developmental psychology , social psychology , value (mathematics) , cognition , perspective (graphical) , management , machine learning , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , computer science , economics
Background . Contemporary views on motivation suggest that expectancy‐value and social‐cognitive perspectives can shed light on the important issue of student motivation. Aims . To test the predictive value of achievement goals on the investment in learning a sport task. Two studies investigated whether investment in learning is affected by achievement goals and perceived ability. Samples . Study 1:57 school pupils selected from an initial sample of 212. Study 2:99 pupils selected from 400. Selection was based on motivation and perceived ability scores from questionnaires. Pupils were aged 13–15 years and attended schools in northern France. Methods . In Study 1 pupils prepared themselves for a sport task with a five‐minute period of training. Study 2 pupils prepared themselves with a five‐minute period of training after prior failure. Results . Study 1 showed that those who were ego‐involved with a low perceived ability had a weaker investment in the training situation than those ego‐involved with a high perceived ability, or those task‐involved regardless of their perceived ability. Ego‐involved pupils used an attributional bias to minimise the effect of effort on performance. Study 2 confirmed these results by underlining the motivational deficits of ego involvement for those with a low perceived ability. Conclusions . School pupils with high ego involvement in a sport task and low perceived ability show motivational deficits which manifest themselves in less time spent on practising a task. A social‐cognitive and expectancy‐value perspective appears to be valid for the study of motivational processes in school physical education.