The concept of Goal Orientations (GOs), which was initially developed in the area of educational psychology, is becoming more and more popular in organisational psychology. Although research on GOs has come a long way since the 1970s there are still a number of conceptual and operational issues which have yet to be addressed. These include issues with the definition, dimensionality, stability and specificity of GOs. It is considered essential to address these concerns because they greatly influence the reliability, validity and accuracy of GO research. Consequently, one aim of this study was to examine the dimensionality, stability and specificity of GOs. It is believed that once enough evidence regarding these issues is gathered this could be used to develop a comprehensive definition of GOs. This study aims to contribute towards gathering such evidence. GOs have been examined both in terms of profiles as well as in terms of individual GO scales (non-profile perspective) in the past. This study uses both perspectives in order to attempt to provide as much information as possible regarding the issues being investigated. Another aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between GOs and performance, mental effort and self-efficacy. Further knowledge of these relationships is considered to be of benefit to organisations. So as to achieve these aims a longitudinal study, consisting of a survey and an experimental study, was carried out. The survey sample consisted of 641 participants whilst the experimental sample was made up of 73 participants. The participants were mainly Loughborough University students. However, there were also a number of employed and retired individuals participating in the study. Quantitative analysis was deemed to be the most appropriate method of analysis to achieve the aims of this study. Data analyses were carried out using SPSS and Latent Gold software packages. The results point towards GOs not being as general and stable as initially assumed. There is a strong possibility of GOs being domain-specific. Consistent with a number of past studies, the approach GOs were found to be more strongly related to self-efficacy, mental effort and performance on tasks than the avoidance GOs. Moreover, the relationships between GOs and these variables seem to be moderated by task characteristics. The profile analyses results revealed that a number of GO profiles obtained in this study were very similar to those obtained in other studies. A closer look at these common GO profiles indicated that some profiles were consistently more strongly related to self-efficacy, mental effort and performance than others. This study provides a foundation for future research studies to build on in order to better understand the nature of GOs and their relationships with self-efficacy, mental effort and performance.

The objectives of this study were to investigate: (1) elite Swedish football players use of coping strategies, (2) their goal orientations, and (3) the relationship between their goal orientation profiles and use of coping strategies. Participants were 83 male elite Swedish football players. The Perception of Success Questionnaire and COPE inventory were administered to meet the objectives. Results showed a significant interaction effect between athletes’ task and ego goal orientations and their use of planning. Athletes’ with a HT/LE profile (3.06 ± 0.36; M ± SD) used frequently more planning than athletes’ with a LT/LE profile (2.59 ± 0.51). Moreover, athletes’ high in task (2.71 ± 0.37) used more problem-focused strategies than athletes low in task (2.54 ± 0.33), and athletes’ low in ego (2.31 ± 0.24) used more emotion-focused strategies than athletes’ high in ego (2.17 ± 0.27). Results are discussed in relation to previous research of achievement motivation and athletes’ use of coping strategies. / Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka: (1) svenska elitfotbollsspelares användande av coping strategier, (2) deras målorienteringar, och (3) relationen mellan deras målorienteringsprofiler och användande av coping strategier. Urvalet bestod av 83 manliga svenska elitfotbollsspelare. Studiens syften undersöktes med hjälp av The Perception of Success Questionnaire och COPE inventory. Resultaten visade en signifikant interaktionseffekt mellan idrottarnas task och ego orienteringar och användande av planering. Idrottare med en HT/LE profil (3.06 ± 0.36; M ± SD) använde sig av mer planering än idrottare med en LT/LE profil (2.59 ± 0.51). Vidare använde idrottare med en hög task-orientering (2.71 ± 0.37) sig av mer problem-fokuserade strategier än idrottare med en låg task-orientering (2.54 ± 0.33) och idrottare med en låg ego-orientering (2.31 ± 0.24) använde mer emotions-fokuserade strategier än idrottare med en hög ego-orientering (2.17 ± 0.27). Resultaten har diskuterats i relation till tidigare forskning inom prestationsmotivation och idrottares coping strategier.

To further investigate athletes’ goal orientations in relation to their use of psychological skills, the present study examined the following objectives: 1) the goal orientations of young Swedish soccer players, (2) their use of psychological skills in both practice and competition and (3) the relationship between their goal orientations and use of psychological skills. Participants were 171 young soccer players from five Swedish high schools. The Perceptions of Success Questionnaire and the Test of Performance Strategies were administered to meet the objectives. Results showed no significant difference between athletes’ task (3.40 ± 1.32; M ± SD) and ego (3.32 ± 1.18) goal orientations. Results further revealed that athletes used more psychological skills in association with competition (3.21 ± .67) than in practice (2.74 ± .63). Moreover, results showed that athletes low in ego orientation used more psychological skills (3.83 ± .67) in practice than athletes high in ego (2.68 ± .60). A recommendation for coaches is to emphasize the importance of using PST in relation to practice in order to maximize athletes’ performances. Results have been discussed in relation to previous research of achievement motivation and athletes’ use of psychological skills.