Motivational responses to fitness testing by award status and gender

Fitness testing is a prominent element in many physical education programs, but there has been limited investigation concerning motivation constructs associated with the testing. This study investigated the relationships among physical education students' award status and gender to achievement goals, intrinsic motivation, and intentions. After they had completed a battery of fitness tests, 123 fifth-grade physical education students were classified into two groups: those who received awards and those who did not. They completed a series of questionnaires assessing motivational constructs. Analyses of variance revealed that students who received a fitness award reported higher levels of task-involvement, perceived competence, effort, enjoyment, and future intention than those who did not. Boys reported higher levels of ego-involvement than girls, but no other gender differences were evident. The findings from this study can be used to inform practitioners, test designers, and researchers about the ways fitness testing programs can be structured so that all students receive the potential benefits from participating in such assessments.