Along with achievement goal theory, sport-confidence and performance are important factors in understanding optimal exercise performance [1]. Achievement goals are the desire to develop, acquire, and demonstrate one’s abilities in a particular situation and are synchronized in different ways depending on how a particular situation is perceived [2]. Athletes achieve different levels of achievement depending on their goals, and the goal orientation of an individual greatly influences their level of effort and motivation [3]. Achievement goal orientation is a very important factor because it has a significant impact on athletic performance through differences in cognition and behavior depending on the goals of the individual athlete [4]. Achievement goal orientation has been categorized into task-orientation achievement goals and ego-orientation achievement goals depending on how athletes interpret their competence in sports [5]. Task-goal oriented learners are concerned with evaluating their own mastery of a task and themselves, whereas ego-goal oriented learners are concerned with evaluating their abilities relative to others [6]. Achievement goal orientation is an individual’s inherent tendency and is a necessary criterion for predicting successful sport performance [7]. Most sports participants possess both traits [6,8]. However, they are independent of each other because task-orientation achievement goals values the process of learning and experiencing achievement with the goal of mastery, while ego-orientation achievement goals focuses on performance and tends to be evaluated as superior to others, with an emphasis on winning [9].

Self-confidence refers to the trust, belief, and positive thinking about oneself that one can successfully tackle various athletic performance tasks without avoiding them, and is not a function of an individual’s capabilities, but rather a state of mind in the most common sense of being able to successfully accomplish something, i.e., a belief in success [1]. Sport-confidence is an important psychological variable that aids athletes in their performance [10] and is an important factor in achieving peak performance in competitive sporting activities [11]. Sport-confidence, which is related to achievement goal orientation, refers to the degree of confidence one has in one’s ability to successfully perform the skills one possesses when engaging in sporting activities [12]. Therefore, athletes with high self-confidence are more likely to be active in sport participation and achievement activities, view difficult tasks as challenging, and strive to achieve the goals they set [13]. Therefore, sport-confidence is considered to be an important psychological factor for successful sports activities along with achievement goal orientation [14].

Sport achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence seem to be closely related and positively influenced by sport performance, and studies in the sport field have shown that athletes’ achievement goal orientation predicts self-confidence [15,16]. It would be valuable to further analyze the relationship between sport achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence. Therefore, a meta-analysis will be conducted to synthesize the studies that have analyzed the correlation between sport achievement goal orientation and sport self-confidence. Meta-analysis is a method of systematic analysis using quantitative data to synthesize and understand multiple studies on the same topic [17]. It refers to an approach that statistically synthesizes the results of individual empirical studies and has the advantage of further organizing and generalizing knowledge in a specific field [18]. In particular, the results of statistical hypothesis testing, which constitutes the majority of quantitative studies, are significantly affected by sample size, and many researchers are facing criticism that arbitrary interpretation of significance is prevalent, so meta-analysis is attracting attention as a new research method that can overcome the shortcomings of individual studies [19]. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to conduct a meta-analysis of the correlation between sport achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence studied in Korea. The results of this study can provide a basis for the application of sports psychological skills training to improve athletic performance.

We coded the authors, year of publication, type of publication, number of participants, and number of correlates analyzed <Table 1>. In order to conduct a meta-analysis, clear criteria for coding must be presented, and agreement and reliability among coders must be verified [23]. For this purpose, the final coding of the selected articles was performed by two PhDs in sport psychology, and one professor majoring in sport psychology was consulted in case of discrepancies during the coding process.

This study conducted a meta-analysis of the Korean literature to comprehensively analyze and identify the correlation between sports achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence. A total of 34 literatures, including 22 journal articles and 12 dissertations, were selected according to the selection criteria. The meta-analysis analyzed the effect size between task-orientation achievement goals, which is a sub-variable of achievement goal orientation, and ego-orientation achievement goals, which is a sub-variable of sports self-confidence, and physical/mental preparation, coach leadership, social support, and proving skills. The results showed that all of them were positively correlated, with large effect sizes of 0.48 for task-orientation achievement goals and physical/mental preparation, 0.40 for task-orientation achievement goals and coach leadership, 0.44 for task-orientation achievement goals and social support, and 0.43 for task-orientation achievement goals and proving skills. ego-orientation achievement goals and physical/mental preparation had a moderate effect size of 0.34, ego-orientation achievement goals and coach leadership had a moderate effect size of 0.38, ego-orientation achievement goals and social support had a moderate effect size of 0.34, and ego-orientation achievement goals and proving skills had a large effect size of 0.45.

Sport achievement goal orientation is reflected in athletes’ confidence levels and successful performance in achievement situations [30], and several studies have shown that achievement goal orientation leads to differences in athletic performance behavior [21,31-33]. In particular, athletes’ latent self-confidence is an important predictor of successful achievement [34], and the more competitive an athlete is, the more likely he or she is to perform well [35]. Furthermore, achievement goal orientation theory predicts that participants who perceive skill mastery or improvement according to their own standards as the activity goal (task-orientation achievement goals) will have more positive achievement behavior and cognitive patterns (performance, self-esteem, intrinsic motivation, persistence, etc.) than participants who perceive competition and winning as the activity goal (ego-orientation achievement goals) [20,36]. To prove this hypothesis, previous studies have examined the relationship and effects of individual differences in goal orientation (tendency) or situational goal structure (motivation) on synchronized behavioral and cognitive patterns, and most findings support the achievement goal orientation theory [37,38].

In this study, sport achievement goal orientation was found to have a positive effect on sport-confidence. Achievement goal orientation has been recognized as a prerequisite for setting clear and specific goals and making personal efforts to achieve them [39,40]. Previous studies have shown that high-performing athletes have higher sport-confidence and clearer goal setting [41,42], and the results of previous studies suggest that sport achievement goal orientation is highly correlated with sport-confidence. This can be explained in the same vein as the findings that perceived competence to demonstrate one’s abilities in achievement-oriented sport situations affects self-confidence, and both task-orientation achievement goals and ego-orientation achievement goals are thought to be positively related to self-confidence because task-orientation achievement goals and ego-orientation achievement goals are both achievement-oriented [43], differing only in the sense of achievement according to standards.

Of the two, task-orientation achievement goals and ego-orientation achievement goals were found to be more correlated with sports confidence. In the case of task-orientation achievement goals, the standard of comparison is the self, so the degree of effort and improvement in competitive situations is clearly visible, and this leads to increased self-confidence, which is judged to manifest as good performance [44]. In addition, several studies have shown that task-orientation achievement goals positively affects the variables related to peak performance, which is the basis of athletes’ performance, while self-goal orientation has a negative effect [8, 45]. Therefore, it is expected that setting task-orientation achievement goals rather than ego-orientation achievement goals for peak performance will help build self-confidence, which will positively affect performance.

Among the sub-variables of sport-confidence, both task-oriented and ego-oriented achievement goals showed large effect sizes for proving skills. One of the most important implications of achievement goal orientation theory, the perception of competence according to achievement goals, is important for the development of athletes’ self-confidence in sporting situations [46]. Perceived competence, which is the desire to demonstrate one’s abilities, is a major factor in enhancing athletes’ self-confidence [22]. Therefore, achieving goals, whether they are task-oriented or self-oriented, will have a positive impact on self-confidence, which will help improve performance.

The results of this study can be used as a basis for recognizing the effectiveness and importance of dispositional goal setting in sports to increase sport-confidence which is crucial for athletes to improve their performance.

This study conducted a meta-analysis of the correlation between sport achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence. The conclusions are as follows. First, sport achievement goal orientation and sport-confidence are positively related. Second, among the sub-variables of sport achievement goal orientation, task-orientation achievement goals were more related to sport-confidence than ego-orientation achievement goals. Third, among the sub-variables of sport-confidence, proving skills was highly correlated with both task-oriented and ego-oriented achievement goals. The results suggest that task-oriented achievement goals are more positive for building confidence. However, since ego-orientation achievement goals were also correlated, it may be more effective to consider both task-oriented and ego-oriented achievement goals when setting goals to improve sports confidence.