The conceptualization of competitiveness has been limited in sport research to its motivational basis with few studies investigating its relation to athlete self-perceptions. A sample of 186 intercollegiate athletes was used to determine the multivariate relationship between task and ego goal orientations, hypercompetitive and personal development competitive attitudes, and the self-esteem components of self-regard, social confidence, and physical abilities. Canonical correlation analyses revealed that the self-regard and physical ability aspects of athletes' self-esteem were related to task orientation, personal development competitiveness, and not hypercompetitiveness. Conversely, low levels of these self-esteem indices were associated with ego orientation and hypercompetitiveness. Results are discussed both in terms of conceptual differences between motivational goals and competitiveness as well as methodological issues regarding the assessment of competitive attitudes among athletes.
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