Background/Purpose Achievement goals and expectancy-value motivation are both critical to students' engagement and learning in physical education/physical activity (PA) settings. However, few studies have simultaneously explored 2×2 achievement goals (mastery-approach, MAp; mastery-avoidance, MAv; performance-approach, PAp; and performance-avoidance, PAv) and expectancy-value motivation (expectancy beliefs, interest, importance, and usefulness). The purpose of this study is to examine how these 2×2 achievement goals predicted children's expectancy-value motivation, effort, and PA intention.
Method Participants were 97 10-13 year-old boys enrolled in a summer sports camp located in the southern U.S. They completed well-established questionnaires assessing achievement goals, expectancy-value motivation, effort, and PA intention.
Analysis/Results MAp positively predicted boys' expectancy beliefs (β=.423, p<.001), interest (β=.389, p<.001), importance (β=.442, p<.001), usefulness (β=.319, p<.01), effort (β=.404, p<.001), and intention (β=.332, p<.001). MAv negatively predicted expectancy beliefs (β= -.208, p<.05), interest (β=-.323, p<.01), usefulness (β=-.209, p<.05), and intention (β=-.221, p<.05). PAp positively predicted expectancy beliefs (β=.326, p<.01) and intention (β=.330, p<.001). PAv was not a predictor of any of the dependent variables.
Conclusions The results of this study supported the adaptive role of MAp and the maladaptive role of MAv for children's engagement and learning. That PAp positively predicted boys' expectancy beliefs and PA intention supported the “multiple goal perspective” in which both MAp and PAp goals can be beneficial (e.g. Barron & Harackiewicz, 2001). We suggest camp administrators structure a MAp supportive learning climate while simultaneously helping students adopt PAp along with MAp to optimize boys' engagement and learning in this camp setting.
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