When Sibling Becomes Competitor: A Qualitative Investigation of Same-Sex Sibling Competition in Elite Sport

Abstract

The effects of performance strategies, goal setting, and self-evaluative recording on the acquisition of a novel motoric skill were studied with 90 high school girls. It was hypothesized that greater acquisition would occur when (a) an analytic strategy was used instead of imaginal strategy, (b) practice goals were shifted dynamically during learning instead of remaining unchanging or fixed, and (c) self-evaluative recording of strategic performance processes was present rather than absent. Support for all three hypotheses was found. In addition to improving motoric skill acquisition, these same self-regulatory processes significantly enhanced three sources of learners' motivation: self-efficacy beliefs, self-satisfaction, and intrinsic interest. Additional analyses revealed that self-evaluative recording enhanced strategy attributions during learning which were predictive of improved self-efficacy, self-satisfaction, and intrinsic interest during posttesting. Self-efficacy was highly predictive of subsequent dart-skill performance. The results were discussed in terms of a strategic cycle view of self-regulation of motoric learning.