Abstract
M.A.
The aim of the study was to explore motivational profiles and competitive anxiety in secondary school
athletes who spend at least eight hours or more on sport during a week.
The study included 267 adolescent athletes in secondary school ranging from grade 8 to grade 12, with
a mean age of 15.52 (SD = 1.49). These athletes were asked to volunteer for the study in various
schools in Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa. The sample comprised 189 boys and 78 girls who
participated in a variety of sports. They were asked to complete a biographical questionnaire, The Task
and Ego Sport Questionnaire (Nicholls, 1989) and the Sport Competitive Anxiety Test (Martens, 1982).
The results indicated that the participants had a high task orientation as opposed to a moderate ego
orientation in sport. Most of the participants had a moderate level of competitive sport anxiety. Two
distinct motivational profiles emerged from the results: High Task/High Ego and High Task/Low Ego.
No significant differences were found between gender and age groups with regards to motivational
profiles and anxiety levels. A correlation was found between task orientation and ego orientation, but
not between motivational profiles and anxiety.