Measurement of Achievement Orientations: Psychometric Measures, Gender, and Sport Differences

Four scales that have been used to measure achievement orientations were administered to 399 Australian adult competitive athletes. The Competitive Orientation Inventory (COI), the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ), the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), and the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ) were completed in counterbalanced order. Results showed that the COI is unrelated to the other three measures. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that only the TEOSQ data adequately fit its hypothesized model. Gender differences were found but with no consistent pattern with prior research. Track and field athletes were found to have significantly higher task orientations than the competitors from other sports. The findings indicate that the TEOSQ is the better instrument for measuring achievement orientations. In addition, future research should investigate the impact of the structure of sports on the development of achievement orientations.