Achievement Orientation and Physical Activity in Elementary Physical Education Classes

Abstract

Introduction: The level of physical activity is important to the health of children and has been related to various adult disease risk factors (Baranowski, Thompson, DuRant, Baranowski & Puhl, 1993). Many researchers examined the magnitude of prediction for physical activity according to childrens' goal orientation. (e.g. Biddle, Soos & Chatzisarantis, 1999; Lintunen, Valkonen, Leskinen & Biddle, 1999). The purpose of the present study was to compare students' physical activity according to their achievement orientation during elementary physical education classes. Method: In this research 108 children participated 8–11 years old with equal number of boys and girls in each group. For the evaluation of the physical activity an accelerometer (Computer Science Actigraph) mounted on students' right hip during the physical education classes. Students also completed an achievement orientation questionnaire and they were classified into four groups according to their scores: low – high task orientation and low – high ego orientation. Results: Analysis of variance revealed a significant (F = 3,61, p < .05) main effect for the group. High ego – high task orientation group was significantly less active than the other three groups. Descreptives of the physical activity as measured by the CSA instrument are shown in the table below:Table: No Caption AvailableDiscussion: It seems that children who compete other students and themselves were less active through physical education classes. This might be due to their disappointment deriving from the lack of opportunities to compete or lack of personal goal setting. The content of physical education classes were mostly oriented toward teaching new skills and less evaluation of performance.