Publication Date

8-1-2003

Degree Program

Department of Psychology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Intrinsic motivation has been shown to be a very important factor in exercise adherence. Research has found that factors such as exercise intensity, social feedback, goal orientation and perceived climate can affect intrinsic motivation. The purpose of this study was to assess situational goal orientation, specifically whether individuals in a task induced condition or ego induced condition would report different levels of intrinsic motivation (i.e., enjoyment, tension, effort and competence during exercise). Participants (N= 114) rode on an exercise bike for 24 minutes at a moderate intensity. A MANCOVA factorial design was used to examine differences in intrinsic motivation. The results of the study did not reveal any significant differences in the level of enjoyment, tension, effort and competence between the task and ego-oriented conditions. However, there were significant differences for outcome feedback (win vs. lose) for competence and tension as well as a significant interaction between goal orientation and outcome feedback for the dependent variable competence. Ego oriented individuals who won in the race function reported significantly higher levels of competence than ego oriented individuals who lost in the race function. Other results and limitations of the study are discussed.

Disciplines

Psychology | Sports Sciences

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