Achievement Goal Orientations and Intrinsic Motivation in Physical Fitness Testing With Children

This study examined the relationship between dispositional achievement goal orientations and intrinsic motivation following physical fitness testing. Students, aged 11-15 years, completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, participated in the 20-m progressive shuttle run test, and then completed a modified Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI). Using their goal orientations, students were placed into one of four groups: low in both task and ego, high egobow task, high taskflow ego, and high in both task and ego. A MANOVA indicated that for students in the "high" and "low" performance groups, differences in intrinsic motivation between goal orientation groups were found. Perceived success and goal orientations had independent effects on intrinsic motivation for the lower performance group but interacted to influence intrinsic motivation for the higher performance group. It is concluded that children have different motivational reactions to fitness testing, depending on their goal profile, performance, and perceived success.