Goal orientation, attention styles and anxiety of junior golfers in Malaysia

Abstract

Sports psychology plays a vital role in contributing to the performance of an athlete. This research examined the levels of goal orientation, attention styles and anxiety towards the performance of the Junior Golfers in Malaysia. Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaires (TEOSQ) was administered to measure goal orientation aspects, Task and Ego. Modified Test of Attentional and Interpersonal Styles (TAIS) was administered to measure six attention styles that were categorized into effective and non-effective attentions. Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2) was administered to measure anxiety aspects which are cognitive, somatic and confidence levels. The three questionnaires were administered on 80 junior golfers who participated in the 2002 national junior golf circuit. Purposive sampling was employed for this study. Descriptive analysis showed the junior Golfers were more orientated by Task (mean=4:07, SD=.56) rather than Ego (mean=3:42, SD=. 56). NAR attention style had the highest mean score (3.40 SD=.51), which was at high moderate level, followed by BIT attention style (mean=3.16, SD=.64) at moderate level. OET attention style had the lowest mean score (mean=2.90, SD=.60), which was at moderately low level. For anxiety, the level of cognitive aspect was moderate at a mean score of 3.13 (SD=. 97) and the level of confidence aspect was high moderate at 3.37 (SD=. 69). Somatic aspect had a mean score of 2.72 (SD=. 96) which was at low moderate level. The findings of this study has implications to education policy, sports trainers and athletes. It is recommended that future studies examine a larger sample of Golfers from different levels or different types of sport. Qualitative research should be conducted in addition to quantitative research to get a deeper understanding of the athletes’ thoughts during competition. A comparative study between psychological profiles of Malaysian athletes and other more successful international athletes is also recommended.