Examining the effects of goal types on physical fitness task performance and psychological outcomes in children aged 4-11 years

Goal setting is one of the most researched interventions in sport, exercise, and performance psychology (Lochbaum et al., 2022) and is widely recognised as an effective strategy. Specifically, positive effects of goal setting have been reported in domains such as sport (e.g., Williamson et al., 2024) and physical activity (McEwan et al., 2016). When setting goals, goal setting theory suggests that specific and challenging performance goals (i.e., goals that focus on a specific task outcome; Seijts et al., p. 196) will result in higher levels of performance than non-specific goals, vaguely defined goals, or having no goal (Locke & Latham, 1990). However, in contrast to these theoretical predictions, recent evidence has indicated a range of performance benefits associated with non-specific goals (e.g., Hawkins et al., 2020; Swann et al., 2020). Furthermore, adopting different types of goals (e.g., specific and non-specific goals) may also lead to different psychological experiences (e.g., Jackman et al., 2024). For example, an open goal, a type of non-specific goal, has been shown to increase enjoyment, pleasure, confidence and perceptions of performance for adults (Hawkins et al., 2020). Although promising, evidence for open goals is based on adult samples, and to date, no research study has tested the effects of open goals in children, or how specific, challenging goals compare to open goals in this population. Whilst there is evidence to suggest that goal setting interventions are beneficial in relation across a range of ages from children (Horne et al., 2009; Epton et al., 2017), there is limited evidence examining the impact of goal types in this population. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of goal types (open and specific goals) on physical fitness task performance and psychological outcomes in children aged 4-11years as part of the Summer Scientist event, hosted by the University of Lincoln, in August 2025.