Participation in sports clubs and academic goal orientation and adjustment: High school students

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate effects of participation in sports as an extracurricular activity on goal orientation and adjustment in the academic and daily life of high school students. Students belonging to sports clubs (N = 231) and students not belonging to any club (N = 200) in 3 high schools completed a questionnaire based on goal theory by Nicholls (1992), assessing 4 types of goal orientation toward academic work (task, cooperation, ego, and work-avoidance), satisfaction with academic activities, and apathy about life (self-unawareness, interpersonal distrust, and fatigue). The results revealed that the students participating in sports clubs reported higher task and cooperative goal orientation, greater satisfaction with academic activities, and less apathy about life (self-unawareness) than the students not belonging to clubs. Task orientation was negatively associated with apathy status, but not with satisfaction with academic activities. These findings suggest that high school students' participation in sports as an extracurricular activity is associated with more positive academic goals and better adjustment in the students' academic and daily lives.