ABSTRACT

  It is incredibly important for children to develop a high task goal orientation.  Each individual will form a goal orientation in childhood and carry it on with them into adulthood.  Those with high task goal orientations will have a more enjoyable time playing sports and staying fit.  They will develop a strong work ethic, achieve optimal performance and persevere even in the face of failure.  Those with high ego orientations will experience more perceived failures, less enjoyment and more disappointment.  Parents play a big role in the type of goal orientation that their child develops.  It should be a priority of parents and teachers alike to help children develop a high task goal orientation.  This would not only help the child throughout his or her life but it would also most likely have a positive affect on the obesity epidemic in America.

INTRODUCTION

  Physical activity should be a fundamental part of every child and adult’s life.  So much is now known about the health benefits of exercise and on the other end of the spectrum, much is also known about the health damage caused by lack of exercise. Unfortunately, a vast number of children and teenagers do not participate in any physical activity (Vlachopoulus, Biddle, & Fox, 1997).  In order to encourage children to take part in and love sports and exercise, we must first understand what motivates them (Xiang, McBride, Bruene and Liu (2007).  Children and teenagers are at an impressionable age, one where they begin to mature into who they are going to be as adults.  Evidence shows that a sedentary lifestyle during the childhood years is a good indication of a sedentary, and therefore unhealthy, lifestyle in to the adult years as well (Vlachopoulus et. al., 1997). 

RESEARCH

There has been a great deal of research and evaluation done on goal orientations.  The two main types of goal orientations are task and ego.  They “reflect how individuals define success in achievement settings” (Xiang et. al, 2007).  Weinberg and Gould (2007) described the differences between the two goal orientations as follows; people who have a task (mastery) goal orientation focus on improvement from their own past performances, while people who have ego (outcome) goal orientation focus on comparing themselves and their performances with others and establishing superiority over their competitors.  Children who equate ability with effort are more likely to develop a task orientation, where as children who differentiate ability from effort are more likely to develop an ego orientation (Xiang et. al., 2007).  

People with a high task goal orientation generally work as hard as they can until they master a specific task, without concern about doing better than their peers (Vlachopoulus et. al., 2007). Task orientation leads to a strong work ethic, perseverance, and optimal performance in sport.  When a task goal is adopted, competence is defined in a self-referenced way, which will allow the individual to feel triumph and pride when a mastering a new task (Vlachopoulus et. al., 2007).  In addition to that, task orientation has been found to greatly increase the enjoyment and interest that people get from the activity (Stephens, 1998). 

People with high task orientation “view effort and ability as distinct causes of outcomes” (Vlachopoulus et. al., 2007), where as those with low task orientation do not.  Ego orientation, on the other often leads to disappointment, frustration and lack of motivation when others perform better.  Ability is often defined in a social comparison way and success is only felt when outperforming others with equal or less effort (Vlachopoulus et. al., 2007). 

It is vitally important for children to develop a task goal orientation to experience the most pleasure and success possible in sports and fitness, as well as to bring them to adulthood still exercising and benefiting from it.  Research has consistently supported the positive relationship between task orientation and intrinsic interest and enjoyment in sports and fitness (Stephens, 1998).  Task oriented people participate in achievement settings for it's own sake, rather than playing for external rewards or to avoid negative external feedback (Stephens, 1998).  A child, as well as an adult, should feel successful if they perform well, especially if they have improved.  Having a low task/high ego orientation will often bring about feelings of failure, even when the individual has performed at their best, since it is often the case that another player might have performed better. 

The researchers who have studied goal orientations in children, get their information by giving them questionnaires to fill out.  A popularly questionnaire is the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ).  Based on the information from the questionnaires, the research teams place the children into four different groups.  The groups are as follows: 1) low task/low ego, 2) low task/high ego, 3) high task/high ego and 4) high task/low ego.  Their placement into these groups is dependent upon "whether the students are able to differentiate the relationship between ability and effort" or not (Xiang et al., 2007).  After the students are placed into the groups they are then evaluated in some way to be able to see the advantages or consequences of being in each particular group.  It was repeatedly found that the students in the high task/low ego group were the best off.   

Xiang, McBride, Bruene and Liu (2007), for example, studied 533 fifth grade students.  The final data collected on these children revealed that students in the high task/low ego group AND the high task/high ego group showed higher levels of motivation for running than the students with low task and high or low ego.  This shows that it is important to develop a high task goal orientation and that it doesn't really matter if the ego is high or low, just as long as the person equates work with success and mastery.  The high task/low ego students had higher expectations about the outcome of the run, considered running to be more important and interesting and had more enthusiasm about continuing to run in the future.  In addition to how they felt, the also performed better on the timed one mile run.  Similarly, Stephens (1998) found that the high task/low ego group perceived much more value in playing soccer than did that low task/high ego group.  

It has been argued that individuals are predisposed, to a certain degree, toward a certain kind of goal orientation (Goudas, Biddle and Fox, 1994).  However, physical education is one domain that has been widely recognized as having the potential to greatly enhance motivation for participation in sport and physical activity in children and teenagers (Vlachopoulus et. al., 2007).  It was also found that parents play a big role in the goal orientations that their children develop.

Studies were done comparing the goal orientations of parents and their children.  Duda and Hom (1993) found that the parent’s self reported goal orientation were not a good indication of the child’s goal orientation.  However, there was a critical correlation between the child’s task orientation scores and their perceptions of the parent’s degree of task orientation.  Those who had a high task goal orientation percieved there parents to be high in task orientation as well.  Likewise, the children who were high in ego orientation perceived their parents to be highly ego oriented.  White (1998) found that the high task/low ego group felt that their parents endorsed a learning and enjoyment motivational climate.  Where as the high ego/low task group felt that their parents valued a climate where success was brought about by low effort.  That group had the highest level of trait anxiety, with the high task/low ego group having the lowest. 

Goal orientations are developed through socialization experiences in childhood and parents play a big role in that socialization process (White, 1998).  In order for parents to help foster a task goal orientation in their children, they should emphasize the learning of physical skills and personal improvement in the physical domain (Duda and Horn, 1993).  However, a parent is likely to foster an ego goal orientation in their child if they respond adversely to mistakes and/or make their children believe that they value sport achievement attained with the least possible effort (Duda and Horn, 1993).  Parent’s beliefs about their children’s abilities, the importance of enjoying the sport and learning new skills affect the children’s own beliefs about what they can accomplish in achievement situations (White, 1998). 

CONCLUSION

In closing, it has been shown through research studies of both adults and children that having a task goal orientation results in people whose subjective evaluations of success are based on learning, personal improvement and putting forth their peak effort (Stephens, 1998).  These individuals do not fear defeat, have a higher perceived competence and a strong work ethic.  They experience optimal performance and continued persistence in the face of failure.  It should be a common goal of all American’s to educate parents and work with children to try to make a brighter, healthier future for our country. 

REFERENCES

Duda, J., & Hom, H. (1993.) Interdependencies Between Perceived and Self-Reported Goal Orientations of Young Athletes and Their Parents. Pediatric Exercise Science, 5, 234 - 241.

Goudas, M., Biddle, S., and Fox, K.  (1994).  Achievement Goal Orientations and Intrinsic Motivation in Physical Fitness Testing in Children.  Pediatric Exercise Science, 6, 159-167.

Stephens, D. (1998). The Relationship of Goal Orientation and Percieved Ability to Enjoyment and Value in Youth. Sports.Pediatric Exercise Science, 10, 236-247.

Vlachopoulus, S., Biddle, S., & Fox, K. (1997). Determinants of Emotion in Children's Physical Activity: A Test of Goal Perspectives and Attribution Theories. Pediatric Exercise Science, 9, 65-79.

White, S. (1998). Adolescent Goal Profiles, Perceptions of the Parent-Initiated Motivational Climate, and Competitive Trait Anxiety. The Sport Psychologist, 12, 16-28.

Weinberg, R., & Gould, D. (2007).  Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (4th edition).  Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Xiang, P., McBride, R., Bruene, A., & Liu, Y. (2007). Achievement Goal Orientation Patterns and Fifth Graders' Motivation in Physical Education Running Programs. Pediatric Exercise Science, 19, 179-191.