In the Context of a Sports Match, the Goal to Win is Most Important, Right? Evidence for a Hierarchical Achievement Goal System

When evaluating one’s own or others’ performances, there is a strong tendency to rely on social comparison information. Remarkably, however, the extant achievement goal research suggests that the prevalence of other-based goals (also referred to as ego goals or performance goals) is very low, also in sport contexts (e.g., Elliot & Hulleman, 2017; Van Yperen, 2021). In the present research, we argue and demonstrate that in the context of a sports match: (1) most athletes’ overarching achievement goal is an other-based approach goal (i.e., the goal to win), and (2) athletes with an overarching other-based approach goal also rely on self-based criteria (referring to one’s personal performance trajectory) and task-based criteria (referring to the absolute demands of the task). Survey data was collected among 647 competitive team players (including elite athletes), ranging in age from 16 to 56 years. As expected, for most athletes (51.6%), to win matches was their overarching achievement goal, and pursuing self-based and task-based approach goals added to their competence satisfaction. These findings suggest that athletes with a strong desire to win acknowledge that they need to focus on what needs to be done to ultimately attain the outcome they desire: Coming out victorious. Making their goal systems visible and explicit likely helps them to effectively self-regulate, to monitor their hierarchically structured goal pursuit, and to enhance their competence satisfaction.