The Development of a Goal Orientation in Exercise Measure (GOEM)

The aim of this research was to develop an exercise-related goal orientation measure in an attempt to further researchers' and practitioners' current understanding of individuals' motivation to exercise for health and recreational purposes. The Goal Orientation in Exercise Measure (GOEM) was developed to assess individuals' proneness to endorse task or ego goals. Participants included 372 males and females from 16 recreational physical activity clubs in Southeast England. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the two-factor model and demonstrated invariance between sexes. Internal consistency for task and ego subscales was .78 and .88, respectively, while correlations between the goal orientations and behavioral regulations (Markland & Tobin, 2004) served to provide initial evidence for the construct validity of the measure. The development of the GOEM may allow for a broader understanding of the motivational processes implicated in exercise-related domains.