Students' goal orientations, perceived motivation climate and their relation with the selection of a specialty

Abstract

The purpose of this Study Was to examine goal orientations, motivational climate and the relation of these factors with the students decision to decide on a physical education specialty in a Sports Sciences Department. The sample consisted of 97 third year physical education students (57 men, 40 women). Thirty-two participants were from the area of competitive sports, 20 from pedagogy of sports and 45 from recreation. The results revealed a clear difference between the three specialties in terms of goal orientations and motivational climate. Furthermore, the results showed that the selection of a specialty by the students could be satisfactorily predicted by the factors of learning and performance as well as the factors of task and ego.