Cross‐cultural test‐control criteria for the achievement motives scale‐sport

Abstract

This paper examines the test‐control criteria of the Achievement Motives Scale‐Sport (Elbe, 2002), a new instrument for measuring the sport‐specific achievement motives. The theoretically based two‐factor structure (hope for success and fear of failure) can be proven in the German and almost completely in the English version. The internal consistencies are above .90 in both versions and reveal homogeneity for both scales. The retest reliability also shows acceptable values for the German version. The validity can be shown by means of a behavioral external criterion (team‐handball throwing game) based on Atkinson's risk‐taking model (1957; 1958). Results show that people with high net hope, who are primarily motivated by their hope for success, prefer realistic tasks with 50% probability of success; whereas people with low net hope, who are more motivated by their fear of failure, choose unrealistic or safe tasks. Validity is additionally shown by significant correlations with the Sport Orientation Questionnaire (Elbe, 2001; Gill & Deeter, 1988) as well as the German version of the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Rethorst & Wehrmann, 1998) as proposed by Elliot and Church's (1997) hierachical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Furthermore, the AMS‐Sport is able to differentiate between competitive and noncompetitive athletes revealing further construct validity.