Cognitive interference during competition among volleyball players with diþerent goal orientation pro®les ANTONIS HATZIGEORGIADIS* and STUART J.H. BIDDLE Department of Physical Education, Sports Science and Recreation Management, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK Accepted 1 May 2002 In this study, we examined interfering thoughts during sport competition among university volleyball players as a function of dominant goal orientation and outcome. In particular, we investigated the performance worries and thoughts of escape experienced while performing in athletes with high task and low ego orientation and athletes with high ego and low task orientation. Goal orientations were assessed before the start of a volleyball tournament, whereas cognitive interference was assessed on three diþerent occasions after games. The results revealed no consistent diþerences for performance worries. In contrast, in all analyses we found that athletes with high ego and low task orientations reported more thoughts of escape when losing than when winning, and more thoughts of escape than athletes with high task and low ego orientations when winning or losing. The results support in part the suggestion that a high ego orientation, when not accompanied by a high task orientation, can be linked to motivationally maladaptive cognitions. Keywords : ego, motivation, negative thinking, task. Introduction It is widely acknowledged that in sport the ability to pay attention to the task without being distracted by irrelevant cues is necessary for eþective performance (Singer et al., 1991). Moreover, Orlick (1990) stated that if there is one mental skill that distinguishes successful from less successful athletes, it is the ability to adapt and refocus in the face of distractions. Although attention has a relatively long research history, several issues have remained unexplored. Eysenck and Keane (1995) noted that most research dealing with con - centration has been concerned with attention to the external environment, ignoring distractibility by self - generated thoughts. As Moran (1996) pointed out, despite its importance, athletes’ vulnerability to such distractions has attracted relatively little attention within the cognitive psychology framework. Moran (1996) referred to these interfering thoughts as internal * Address all correspondence to Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, University of Thessaly, TEFAA, 42100 Karies, Trikala, Greece. e-mail: ahatzi@pe.uth.gr distractions that divert individuals’ attention from the task to be performed. Internal distractions have received considerable attention in educational settings, where the question of thought - shifting during task performance was ®rst addressed. The term `cognitive interference’ has been used to describe such disruptions of concentration and refers to thoughts that individuals experience while executing a task that are not related to the execution itself (Sarason, 1984). Based on research conducted in educational achievement settings (e.g. Carver, 1979; Carver and Scheier, 1981, 1984, 1986), Carver and Scheier (1988) suggested a control process model of attention, which has proved helpful for understanding the mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of task - interfering thoughts. In brief, they proposed that, in achievement settings, human behaviour is regulated by a system of feedback control. People establish goals in relation to certain values or standards and use these standards as reference points. When behaviour is dis - played, individuals monitor themselves in terms of these goals. In their attempts to reach the goal, individuals periodically interrupt their task - directed eþorts to assess the likelihood of achieving the goal. When, during Journal of Sports Sciences ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online Ó 2002 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals Journal of Sports Sciences, 2002, 20, 707±715