Abstract
The present study aimed to further expound on the research findings of Strunk et al. (Educational Psychology, 41(4), 383–400, 2021) and Elliot and Thrash (Educational Psychology Review, 13(2), 139–156, 2001) by investigating the structure of achievement goals using a sports environment, with a specific interest in the mastery-avoidance construct. According to achievement goal theorists, mastery-avoidance goals involve the aim to avoid losing skills. Using meta-analytic confirmatory factor analysis, the present study found that the 2 × 2 model that included mastery-avoidance goals did not significantly differ from the three-factor model. Mastery-avoidance goals may be more measurable among athletes than in other populations; however, the null difference suggests that the mastery-avoidance construct may need further examination. Future researchers should further investigate the sports environment for specific correlates of mastery-avoidance goals.
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Jang, H.S., Dai, Y., Strunk, K.K. et al. Investigating mastery-avoidance goals using the achievement goal questionnaire for sports (AGQ-S): a meta-analytic confirmatory factor analysis (MA-CFA). Curr Psychol 42, 26527–26534 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03768-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03768-7