Task and ego orientation - The role of goal orientations in anticipated affective reactions to achievement outcomes

When approaching achievement tasks, people can focus on different types of goals, for example, task mastery (task orientation) and/or demonstrating one's superior ability (ego orientation). We investigated the extent to which dispositional task and ego orientations towards a personally valued activity predict anticipated affective reactions to a hypothetical situation involving the activity. College students were asked to think of a career-related activity or a competitive sport that was personally important to them. Half of the students were further told that the activity should be one that they enjoyed for its own sake, and the other half were told that the activity should be one at which they wanted to be outstanding. In the hypothetical situation, students imagined that they succeeded at the activity with much effort, but others succeeded with less effort. Task orientation predicted anticipated positive affect in the outstanding performance context, but was not significant in the enjoyment context. Ego orientation predicted anticipated negative affect in the enjoyment context, but was not significant in the outstanding performance context. The ego orientation effects only held for students with low perceived ability. Women scored higher than men on task orientation and anticipated more positive affect. Differences in the task value of competitive sports and career-related activities were also explored. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.