Background: Contemporary views on motivation suggest that expectancy-value and social-cognitive perspectives can shed light on the important issue of student motivation.
Aims: To test the predictive value of achievement goals on the investment in learning a sport task. Two studies investigated whether investment in learning is affected by achievement goals and perceived ability.
Samples: Study 1: 57 school pupils selected from an initial sample of 212. Study 2: 99 pupils selected from 400. Selection was based on motivation and perceived ability scores from questionnaires. Pupils were aged 13-15 years and attended schools in northern France.
Methods: In Study 1 pupils prepared themselves for a sport task with a five-minute period of training. Study 2 pupils prepared themselves with a five-minute period of training after prior failure.
Results: Study 1 showed that those who were ego-involved with a low perceived ability had a weaker investment in the training situation than those ego-involved with a high perceived ability, or those task-involved regardless of their perceived ability. Ego-involved pupils used an attributional bias to minimise the effect of effort on performance. Study 2 confirmed these results by underlining the motivational deficits of ego involvement for those with a low perceived ability.
Conclusions: School pupils with high ego involvement in a sport task and low perceived ability show motivational deficits which manifest themselves in less time spent on practising a task. A social-cognitive and expectancy-value perspective appears to be valid for the study of motivational processes in school physical education.