The purposes of this study were to test (1) whether athletes with congenital disabilities exhibited different competitive orientations than athletes with disabilities acquired during their lifespans and (2) whether male athletes with disabilities exhibited different competitive orientations than their female peers. 54 paraplegic, quadriplegic and amputee athletes competing in the 1996 Paralympic Track and Field Trials completed the Sport Orientation Questionnaire. No mean differences were found between men and women, athletes with different onsets of their disabilities across the lifespan, between adolescents and adults, and between athletes with different severity classifications on the Goal orientation, Competitiveness, and Desire to win scales. Larger studies are encouraged to examine competitive orientation, as well as scores on tests specifically constructed to be administered to athletes with disabilities.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AhlgrenA.JohnsonO. W. (1979) Sex differences in cooperative and competitive attitudes from the 2nd to the 12th grades. Developmental Psychology, 15, 45–49.
2.
AskenM. J. (1991) The challenge of the physically challenged: Delivering sport psychology services to physically disabled athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 5, 370–381.
3.
AskenM. J.GoodlingM. (1986) Sport psychology: An introduction and overview. Sports N’ Spokes, 12(1), 12–16.
4.
CampbellE. (1995) Psychological well-being of participants in wheelchair sports: Comparison of individuals with congenital and acquired disabilities. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81, 563–568.
5.
CanabalM. Y.SherrillC.RainboltW. J. (1987) Psychological mood profiles of elite cerebral palsied athletes. In BerridgeM. E.WardG. R. (Eds.), International perspective on adapted physical activity. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.157–163.
6.
CarkhoffR. R. (1971) The development of human resources. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
7.
ChubonR. A. (1994) Social and psychological foundations of rehabilitation. Springfield, IL: Thomas.
8.
ClarkR.SachsM. (1991) Challenges and opportunities in psychological skills training in deaf athletes. The Sport Psychologist, 5, 392–398.
9.
CookD. (1987) Psychological impact of disability. In ParkerR. (Ed.), Rehabilitation counseling: Basics and beyond. Austin, TX: Pro Ed.97–120.
DepauwK. P. (1986) Research on sport for athletes with disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 3, 292–299.
12.
DepauwK. P. (1988) Sport for individuals with disabilities: Research opportunities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 5, 80–89.
13.
DepauwK. P.GavronS. J. (1995) Disability and sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
14.
DudaJ. L. (1985) Goal orientations and achievement orientations of Anglo and Mexican-American adolescents in sport and the classroom. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 9, 131–155.
15.
DudaJ. L.AllisonM. T. (1986) The nature of sociocultural influences on achievement motivation: The case of the Navajo Indian. In LoyJ. W. (Ed.), Paradoxes of play. New York: Leisure Press.188–197.
16.
FriezeI. H. (1975) Women's expectations for and causal attributions of success and failure. In MednickM. T. S.TangriS. S.HoffmanL. W. (Eds.), Women and achievement: Social and motivational analyses. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
17.
FungL. (1992) Participation motives in competitive sports: A cross-cultural comparison. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 9, 114–122.
18.
GillD. L. (1986a) Competitiveness among females and males in physical activity classes. Sex Roles, 15, 233–247.
19.
GillD. L. (1986b) Psychological dynamics of sport. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
20.
GillD. L. (1993) Competitiveness and competitive orientation in sport. In SingerR. N.MilledgeM.TennantL. K. (Eds.), Handbook of research on sport psychology. New York: Macmillan.314–327.
21.
GillD. L.DeeterT. E. (1988) Development of the Sport Orientation Questionnaire. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 59, 191–202.
22.
GillD. L.DzewaltowskiD. A. (1988) Competitive orientations among intercollegiate athletes: Is desire to win the only thing?The Sport Psychologist, 2, 212–221.
23.
GillD. L.DzewaltowskiD. A.DeeterT. E. (1988) The relationship of competitiveness and achievement orientation to participation in sport and nonsport activities. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 10, 139–150.
24.
GoodlingM.AskenM. (1987) Sport psychology for the physically disabled athlete. In MayJ.AskenM. (Eds.), Sport psychology: The psychological health of the athlete. New York: PMA.117–133.
25.
GouldD. (1993) Goal orientation-setting for peak performance. In WilliamsJ. W. (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance. Mountainview, CA: Mayfield.158–169.
26.
HalvariH.KjørmoO. (1999) A structural model of achievement motives, performance approach and avoidance goals, and performance among Norwegian Olympic athletes. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 89, 997–1022.
27.
HopperC. A. (1984) Socialization of wheelchair athletes. In SherrillC. (Ed.), The 1984 Olympic Scientific Congress Proceedings. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.197–202.
28.
HutzlerY. (1990) The concept of empowerment in rehabilitative sports. In Doll-TepperG.DahmsC.DollB.SelzmanH. (Eds.), Adapted physical activity: An interdisciplinary approach. Heidelberg, Ger.: Springer.44–51.
29.
HutzlerY.Bar-EliM. (1993) Psychological benefits of sports for disabled people: A review. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Sports, 3, 217–228.
30.
Iso-AholaS. E.HatfieldB. (1986) Psychology of sports: A social psychological approach. Dubuque, LA: Brown.
31.
Janoff-BulmanR.TimkoC. (1987) Coping with traumatic life events: The role of denial in light of people's assumptive worlds. In SnyderC. R.FordC. E. (Eds.), Coping with negative life events: Clinical and social-psychological perspectives. New York: Plenum.135–160.
32.
MartensR. (1977) Sport Competition Anxiety Test. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
33.
MastroJ. V.FrenchR. (1986) Sport anxiety and elite blind athletes. In SherrillC. (Ed.), Sport and disabled athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.203–208.
34.
McClellandD. C. (1961) The achieving society. New York: Free Press.
35.
MoosR. H.SchaeferJ. A. (1989) The crisis of physical illness: An overview and conceptual approach. In MoosR. H. (Ed.), Coping with life crises: An integrated approach. New York: Plenum Medical Book Co.3–25.
36.
NunnallyJ. C.BernsteinI. H. (1994) Psychometric theory. (3rd ed.) New York: McGraw-Hill.
37.
O'ConnorE. A.PageS. J.PetersonK. E. (1998) Leaving the disability ghetto: A qualitative study of some factors underlying disabled athletes’ achievement motivation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology, Boston, MA, September.
38.
PageS. J.O'ConnorE. A.PetersonK. E. (in press) Leaving the disability ghetto: A qualitative study of some factors underlying disabled athletes’ achievement motivation. The Journal of Sport and Social Issues.
39.
PageS. J.PetersonK. E. (1998) Unique voices in the locker room: Goal orientations, aspirations, and inspirations of two minority athlete populations using phenomenological methodologies. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, Reno, NV, April.
40.
RoheD. E. (1998) Psychological aspects of rehabilitation. In DeLisaJ. E.GanaB. M. (Eds.), Rehabilitation medicine: Principles and practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippencott-Ra-ven. Pp 189212.
41.
SchontzF. C. (1975) The psychological aspects of physical illness and disability. New York: Macmillan.
42.
SherrillC, (1986) Social-psychological dimensions of sports for disabled athletes. In SherrillC. (Ed.), Sport and disabled athletes. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.21–33.
43.
SherrillC. (1998) Adapted physical activity, recreation, and sport: Crossdisciplinary and lifespan. (5th ed.) Madison, WI: WCB/McGraw.
44.
SherrillC. (1999) Disability sport and classification theory: A new era. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 16(3), 206–215.
45.
SkordilisE. K. (1996) Comparison of sport achievement orientation between wheelchair basketball athletes and able-body basketball athletes. Eugene, OR: Microform Publications, International Institute for Sport & Human Performance.
46.
WheelerG. D.MaloneL. A.VanvlackS.NelsonE. R.SteadwardR. D. (1996) Retirement from disability sport: A pilot study. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 13, 382–399.
47.
WhiteS. A.DudaJ. L. (1993) Dimensions of goal orientations and beliefs among adolescent athletes with physical disabilities. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 10, 125–136.
48.
WrightB. A. (1983) Physical disabilities: A psychological approach. New York: Harper & Row.
49.
ZoerinkD. A. (1992) Exploring sport socialization environments of persons with orthopaedic disabilities. Palaestra, 8, 38–44.
50.
ZoerinkD. A.WilsonJ. (1995) The competitive disposition: Views of athletes with mental retardation. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 12, 34–42.
