Past Sports Participation, Self-Efficacy, Goal Orientation, and Academic Achievement Among College Students

The relationship between past sports participation in high school and current levels of general self-efficacy, goal orientation, and college GPA were examined among 149 college undergraduates. Participants were recruited from both MTurk and a local university and completed an online survey, which included a demographic questionnaire, the General Self-Efficacy scale, the Goal Orientation Instrument, and a sports participation questionnaire. Significant positive correlations were found between past sports participation and current levels of general self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and prove performance goal orientation. No significant relationships were observed for college GPA. The current study is the first to evaluate the relationship between participation in sports during high school and current levels of self-efficacy, goal orientation, and academic performance in college students. Future directions for research are discussed.