Competitive Orientations Among Intercollegiate Athletes: Is Winning The Only Thing.

Abstract: In this exploratory investigation of competitive orientations, intercollegiate athletes from a highly competitive Division I program and nonathletes from the same university completed Gill's Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ) which assesses competitiveness, win and goal orientation; Vealey's Competitive Orientation Inventory (COI) which assesses the relative importance of performing well (performance) and winning (outcome) in competitive sports; and Helmreich and Spence's Work and Family Orientation Questionnaire (WOFO), a general achievement orientation measure. A Gender X Athlete/Nonathlete MANOVA yielded both gender and athlete/nonathlete main effects and no interaction. The gender difference was most evident for competitiveness scores, with males scoring higher than females on competitiveness and win orientation. Athletes scored higher than nonathletes on most measures, but especially so on the sport-specific competitiveness score. Athletes also placed more emphasis on performance and less on outcome than nonathletes did. A secondary analysis compared the eight athletic teams and revealed considerable variation among teams. Generally the team differences were not gender differences but seemed to reflect the competitive structure of the activity. Article: Individual differences in achievement orientation and competitiveness are quite obvious among sport participants and these differences logically relate to sport achievement behaviors and success. According to both Atkinson's (1974) achievement motivation theory and more current cognitive approaches, highly achievement-oriented individuals approach achievement situations, try hard and strive for success against achievement standards, and persist in the face of failure. These same achievement behaviors should lead to success in athletics. Highly successful athletes are those who enter competitive sports and accept challenges, who set and strive for high performance standards, and who persist in those efforts until they attain their goals. Thus, highly successful athletes should be characterized by high achievement motivation. Despite the appealing logic of the relationship between achievement orientation and athletic success, sport psychology research has not demonstrated any consistent relationship between global achievement motivation constructs and sport achievement behavior