Some studies which attempted to predict sport behaviors from the standpoint of achievement motivation have been reported. The common purpose of these studies was to clarify the effect of general achievement motives on sport behaviors. In consideration of sport situations, however, certain situational variables which involve such situations seem to be important factors in predicting sport behaviors. In the present study, Achievement Motives Test in Sports (AMTS) which was constructed on the basis of previous researches of achievement motives, involving situational variables in sport situations, was used. The purpose of the study was to examine the factor structure of the achievement motives in sports. Furthermore, characteristics of the achievement motives factors extracted from AMTS were analyzed in comparing with factor scores among three different athletic levels. AMTS which consists of 54 items was administered to 325 college athletes. Principal factor solution with normal varimax rotation was applied to the correlation matrix and then the factor scores were compared among the three different athletic levels. The following major results were found out: 1. Seven factors out of the 8, extracted from the factor analysis for AMTS, were reasonably interpreted as follows ; Unique Accomplishment, Mental Toughness, Overcoming Obstacles, Instrumental Activity, Endurance, Desire to Achieve Success, and Desire to Develop Motor Skills. Concerning achievement motives, it appears that these factors might provide an useful information to predict athletes' behaviors in sport situations. 2. The athlete group of the highest rank showed significantly higher factor scores on Unique Accomplishment and Mental Toughness than the other two groups of the second and the third rank athletes. Judging from the results, it would appear that these two factors, Unique Accomplishment and Mental Toughness, are critical to distinguish the athletes of the highest level from those on lower levels.
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