The inspiration for this thesis is the “motivational crisis” at student level in the Danish upper secondary school, gymnasium, in combination with a personal interest for didacts in physical education, and the research question is: Which factors influence the relationships between students’ mindset, goal orientations and behavior in com-petition situations in sports, and what influence do they have? The purpose for identifying such factors, is to facilitate teachers in being able to influence the students’ motivation in competition situations in physical education (PE), through manipulating these factors.
The theoretical construct is devised of achievement goal theory (AGT) using the newest 3 × 2 Achievement Goal Model. The newest research in this field suggest, that motivational climate, gender, perceived competence and context may be factors influencing the relationships between mindset, goal orientations and behavior in PE, and these four factors was selected for further investigation.
The methods used is primarily qualitative group interviews and the 3 × 2 Achievement Goal Questionnaire for Sport (AGQ-S). A whole class answered the AGQ-S questionnaire right after a ten-minute-long competition situation in badminton in PE, and eight students, three boys and five girls, were selected to participate in two group interviews with four students each. The selection method was based on maximum variation in motivational levels, measured with AGQ-S, and maximum variation in gender. The transcriptions from the group interviews and the answers from the AGQ-S questionnaire was analyzed using a four-stage interpretive phenomenological analysis.
The results indicate that all four factors, motivational climate, gender, perceived competence and context, have influenced the relationships between the students’ mindset, goal orientations and behavior in the competition situation in badminton just prior to answering of the AGQ-S and participating in the group interviews. The influence is mainly between the students’ mindset and goal orientations, either directly or indirectly though the students perceived competence in badminton.
This leads to the conclusion that motivational climate, gender, perceived competence and context very well may be factors that teachers can manipulate to influence students’ motivation in competition situations in PE. This conclusion is in line with the newest AGT-research which is still in its infancy in this area.