Motivational Climate and the impact on Health-Related Fitness Outcomes of Youth Participants

Achievement goal theory research presumes that a classroom goal structure influences students' adoption of achievement goals and related cognitions and behaviors. Motivational climate plays a significant role as a determinant of sports participation and behavioral patterns in relation to reasons for continuing to contribute to a task or sport. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of motivational climate on boys’ and girls’ heath-related fitness scores. The research hypothesis stated that youth in a mastery-oriented climate would have greater positive changes in health-related fitness scores than youth in a performance-oriented climate when controlling for gender, age, and goal orientation. The study assessed 206 fourth through eighth grade physical education classes in four North Alabama schools. Classes were randomly assigned to a masteryor performance-climate. Mastery climates focused on individual improvement while performance climate emphasized performance. The study utilized a randomized control group pretest-posttest design using measurements of motivational style as described in the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire, the Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire, the Children’s Attitudes towards Physical Activity Questionnaire, and the Presidential Challenge test. Multiplicative interaction terms were constructed using the variable representing the groups, age, gender, goal orientation, physical activity attitude, and pretest score. The extent to which there were interaction effects was tested using hierarchical regression. Unstandardized partial regression coefficients and their level of significance were examined to assess the contribution of the main effects. R and the effects of the independent variables were considered statistically significant at p < 0.05. Conclusions revealed that improvement in health-related fitness measures might be more dependent upon school than motivational climate. In this study neither motivational climate, participant’s attitude toward physical activity, or individual goal orientation had a significant effect on posttest Presidential Fitness scores. The participants demonstrated improved scores on mile run, shuttle run, push ups, curl ups, and percentile rankings. Determining the contribution of motivational climate to exercise performance is pertinent in developing programs that develop optimal motivation to be physically active.