A study of cultural differences in motivational orientations towards sport participation of junior secondary school children in four cultures

The study of motivational orientations of participants is essential in designing physical education or sport programs in enhancing their enjoyment and persistence. People from different regions may adopt different motivational orientations during participating in physical activities. This study compared junior secondary school students (N = 1,083) from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Hungary and Romania on three motivational orientations, two goal orientations and competitive trait anxiety. The data were analyzed with a four (country) by two (gender) multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA). Results indicated that relative to the other cultures, Hong Kong scored higher in goal orientations, while Hungary and Romania were quite homogenous and scored higher in both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations; the United Kingdom scored relatively lower in all scores. Cultural difference in gender was not prominent with females scoring in a more unfavorable condition towards sport participation. These findings were discussed relative to cultural influences and concluded that cultural factors should be considered in sport motivational research. Copyright © 2005 Department of Physical Education, Hong Kong Baptist University.