Conscious self-appraisal of achievement motivation: The self-peer rank method revisited.

Describes 2 studies with 41 and 20 undergraduates, respectively, on the self-peer rank of need for achievement (n Ach) and correlation with academic success. It was found that (a) when Ss use their peers as reference points, they are able to give self-reports of their levels of n Ach which are predictive of academic success; (b) these judgments of motivation are independent of achievement-success information; (c) when Ss are given a common standard, the level of accuracy of the predictions is higher than reported previously; and (d) the correlations between judgments of motivation and measures of performance are relatively independent of correlations between measures of ability and measures of performance. It is concluded that n Ach is not, as traditionally considered, an unconscious characteristic and that the self-peer rank method may be a useful adjunct to assessment procedures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for achievement in Negro and white children.

2 studies were done comparing the scores of Negro and white children on need for achievement (n Ach), defined as concern with achieving high standards of excellence. All Ss were from rural, central North Carolina. In the 1st study, 5th and 7th graders wrote stories in response to 6 line drawings of people. In the 2nd study, 3rd-, 5th-, and 7th-grade Ss and high-school Ss wrote or told stories to 12 other line drawings. In both studies, white Ss scored significantly higher than Negro Ss, and n Ach scores increased significantly with age. In the 2nd study, Negro girls scored significantly higher than Negro boys. Negro Ss had more hostile non-n-Ach themes in the 1st study, but there was no meaningful pattern of the non-n-Ach themes in the 2nd study. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Physique and motivation.

In accordance with the large collection of research findings on n Ach published by McClelland and his associates, it was hypothesized that mesomorphy would correlate positively with n Ach. Ss were 100 nondelinquent and 100 delinquent boys with a mean of 17? yr. They were somatotyped following, not Sheldon's, but Parnell's more recent and objective method. They also took the test that McClelland has used in various countries for measuring n Ach as well as other kinds of motivation. A positive and significant correlation between mesomorphy and n Ach was obtained in both samples as well as a negative and significant correlation between ectomorphy and n Ach. Other types of motivation were also studied. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

N achievement and father dominance in Turkey.

This study presents cross-cultural data to support the hypothesis that father dominance is associated with low need Achievement (n Ach) in men. Evidence for the hypothesis was obtained (a) by testing groups of American and Turkish junior executives and (b) by comparing n Ach scores of Turks who differ in the degree to which they were dominated by their fathers. The American junior executives, as compared with the Turks, were found to have significantly higher n Ach scores. In 3 independent samples, Turks who were less dominated by their fathers, as measured by Ss' age when their fathers died or when they first lived apart from their fathers, had significantly higher n Ach scores than did men who were more dominated by their fathers. Such a relationship was not found, however, when dominance was measured by Ss' report of who had had the greatest influence in their lives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some correlates of high need for achievement among urban northern negroes.

A survey instrument was administered to a random sample of 200 Boston Negroes. Positive r's between need for Achievement (n Ach) and occupational status, information, and seeing white as larger on the irradiation perceptual illusion were found. A negative r existed between n Ach and authoritarian child training attitudes. Father absence was linked to low n Ach. High n Ach northern men (NM) tend to be less religious, more militant, better educated, have higher occupational status, and feel more victimized than low n Ach NM. High n Ach southern men (SM) have higher incomes, are more religious, deny feeling victimized by discrimination, repress their hostility, and are less educated than low n Ach SM. High n Ach women tend to join protest groups. High n Ach southern women (SW) express their own hostility and accept male violence while high n Ach northern women do not. No relation was found between n Ach and somatotype. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of need for achievement on the job performance-job attitude relationship.

Studied the effect of employee need for achievement (n Ach) on the job performance-job attitude relationship among 1st-level supervisors. Ss were 133 females with a mean age of 42 yrs employed in a large public utility. Before need strength variations were considered, overall performance was found to be somewhat related to job satisfaction but not to job involvement. However, when Ss were split into high and low n Ach groups, performance was significantly related to both satisfaction and involvement for high n Ach Ss but not for low n Ach Ss. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causal attributions of learning disabled children: Individual differences and their implications for persistence.

It has been shown that learning disabled (LD) children are likely to develop a maladaptive pattern of causal attributions. However, it is unclear whether LD children are more likely to differ from their peers in terms of a greater tendency to attribute their difficulties to insufficient ability or in terms of a greater tendency to blame external factors. The authors investigated this issue in 24 LD boys and 14 LD girls in Grades 3–5 and in 38 age-, sex-, race-, and IQ-matched normal controls. Ss were asked to complete scales assessing attributions for academic difficulties; 2 wks later, Ss were presented with a reading task for which persistence was measured. It was found that LD girls were significantly more likely than nondisabled girls to attribute their difficulties to insufficient ability, but girls did not differ in their tendency to attribute their difficulties to external factors. In contrast, LD boys were significantly more likely than nondisabled boys to attribute their difficulties to external factors, but they did not differ from nondisabled boys in their tendency to attribute their difficulties to insufficient ability. Although the tendency to blame one's ability was negatively related to reading task persistence, the tendency to attribute one's difficulties to external factors did not show this negative relation. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the correlations among field dependence, spatial ability, sex role orientation, and performance on Piaget's water-level task.

In a study with 8th-grade boys and girls, significant sex differences were found on measures of spatial ability (Card Rotations Test), water-level performance, and sex-role orientation (Bem Sex Role Inventory), but not field dependence (Group Embedded Figures Test). For boys, correlations among field dependence, spatial ability, and water-level performance were significant, while for girls they were not. In contrast, sex role orientation was significantly related to field dependence and water-level performance for girls but not for boys. Results suggest a sex difference in the basis for mastering the water-level task. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Implicit and Self-Attributed Motives to Achieve: Two Separate but Interacting Needs.

This research examined how implicit and self-attributed needs to achieve (labeled as n Ach and san Ach, respectively) combine with self-referenced and norm-referenced feedback to predict effort-related (task performance) and choice-related (task continuation) indexes of students' engagement in a mental concentration task. In Experiment 1 the authors found that in a task-focused setting, task performance was predicted by the joint effect of self-referenced feedback and n Ach, whereas task continuation was predicted by the joint effect of norm-referenced feedback and san Ach. In Experiment 2 the authors found that in an ego-focused setting, n Ach and san Ach interacted in the prediction of task performance but not of task continuation. In Experiment 3 the authors found that the effects of n Ach and san Ach on students' performance were mediated by the anticipated affective value of achievement outcomes. These findings are discussed in relation to a 2-system approach to achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in masking negative emotions: Ability or motivation?

Research has demonstrated that boys display greater negative affect than girls when they receive a disappointing gift. In this study, ability and motivation were investigated as possible reasons for the gender differences. First- and 3rd-grade children's emotion dissimulation in a disappointing gift task was compared with their degree of dissimulation in a highly motivating game task that required the same ability (masking disappointment with a positive expression) but involved a self-gain motive. If boys are motivated, can they hide their disappointment as well as girls? Boys reduced their expression of negative affect in the game task; however, they still showed higher levels of negativity than did the girls. Perhaps because of socialization experiences, girls have more practice in hiding disappointment and, therefore, are better skilled. Girls also showed higher levels of social monitoring behaviors than boys, and younger girls demonstrated the greatest number of tension behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do African American mothers really “love” their sons and “raise” their daughters?

This study assessed 1500 adolescents from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth to test the hypothesis that African American mothers differentially socialize their girls and boys. The results showed that later-born boys had fewer chores, argued more with their mothers, lived in less cognitively stimulating homes, and were not allowed to make the same decisions as were the girls or firstborn boys at the same age. The later-born boys were also lowest in achievement and highest in externalizing behaviors. Parenting differences accounted for the achievement differences but not for the externalizing behavior differences. It was concluded that the later-born boys would achieve at the same rates as their siblings if they were socialized in the same manner as their siblings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender differences in solution of algebraic word problems containing irrelevant information.

In the 1st experiment, 219 boys and 217 girls in 10th grade classified algebraic word problems in terms of whether the problems contained missing, sufficient, or irrelevant information for solution. Among students with similar levels of general mathematical ability, girls were less likely than boys to identify missing or irrelevant information within problems. More girls than boys perceived irrelevant information within the text of a problem as being necessary for solution. In the 2nd experiment, 11th-grade girls (n?=?234), who were as able as boys (n?=?287) to solve algebraic word problems containing sufficient information, had lower solution rates than did boys on problems containing irrelevant information. On the latter problems, the girls more often incorporated the irrelevant information into their attempted solution than did the boys. The results point to differences between boys and girls in knowledge of problem structure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Leptin levels in children with central precocious puberty

Several studies have suggested that sufficient serum leptin levels may be involved in the initiation of puberty. To assess further the relationship between leptin and the onset of puberty in humans, we measured the serum leptin concentration in children with central precocious puberty (CPP). We studied 65 children with either idiopathic (IPP; n = 50 girls and 3 boys) or neurogenic central precocious puberty (NPP; n = 5 girls and 7 boys). The serum leptin levels in these patients were compared with normative data from healthy children and adolescents using SD scores that adjust for body mass index (BMI) and Tanner stage. The mean SD scores of IPP and NPP girls were +0.4 +/- 0.1 and +1.0 +/- 0.5, respectively, compared with that of age-matched prepubertal girls and +0.7 +/- 0.2 and +1.6 +/- 0.6 compared with that of girls matched for pubertal stage. The CPP girls with lower BMIs contributed larger SD scores, such that the leptin SD score was negatively correlated with BMI. A similar, modest increase in leptin levels in the CPP girls was evident when additional normative data were considered. The mean leptin SD scores of IPP and NPP boys were -0.9 +/- 0.5 and +0.7 +/- 0.3, respectively, compared with that of normal boys at Tanner stage 3-4. Serum leptin levels in the boys with CPP were not different from those in healthy boys in any of the normative studies. These data should be interpreted cautiously, but they suggest that girls with CPP have modestly elevated serum leptin concentrations compared with those in healthy children and adolescents. In addition, the negative correlation between the leptin SD score and BMI suggests that sufficient leptin levels may be associated with initiation of puberty in girls.     

Gender matters, too: The influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents.

The authors examined relationships among racial identity, school-based racial discrimination experiences, and academic engagement outcomes for adolescent boys and girls in Grades 8 and 11 (n = 204 boys and n = 206 girls). The authors found gender differences in peer and classroom discrimination and in the impact of earlier and later discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. Racial centrality related positively to school performance and school importance attitudes for boys. Also, centrality moderated the relationship between discrimination and academic outcomes in ways that differed across gender. For boys, higher racial centrality related to diminished risk for lower school importance attitudes and grades from experiencing classroom discrimination relative to boys lower in centrality, and girls with higher centrality were protected against the negative impact of peer discrimination on school importance and academic self-concept. However, among lower race-central girls, peer discrimination related positively to academic self-concept. Finally, socioeconomic background moderated the relationship of discrimination with academic outcomes differently for girls and boys. The authors discuss the need to consider interactions of individual- and contextual-level factors in better understanding African American youths' academic and social development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of achievement motivation in job design.

Examined the effects of job scope and need for achievement (n Ach) on organizational commitment and performance among a sample of 115 managers in various departments of a major midwest manufacturing firm. Measures of perceived job scope, n Ach (Manifest Needs Questionnaire), and commitment were obtained from the sample, whereas independent performance ratings were obtained from their superiors. Using both moderated regression and subgroup analysis, it was found that high-scope jobs (i.e., jobs characterized by greater amounts of variety, autonomy, task identity and feedback) were directly related to managerial commitment to the organization; n Ach did not moderate the relationship. Furthermore, it was found that the effect of high job scope on performance was moderated by n Ach. This latter finding is consistent with earlier research on need for achievement and suggests that the n Ach construct offers considerable utility for future research on job design. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond the reinforcement principle: Another step toward understanding sex role development.

40 21–25 mo olds participated in ongoing play groups (with almost equal numbers of boys and girls in each group of 12–25 children) while observers studied them and noted the reactions of both peers and teachers to behaviors that could be identified and coded as male, female, or neutral. Teachers, both female and male, responded primarily to the category of behavior. Regardless of the sex of the child, they gave positive reactions to behaviors that were female-preferred or neutral but seldom to those that were male-preferred. Responses among the peer group were more complicated. Girls responded more positively to other girls than to boys, regardless of the category (male, female, or neutral) of the behavior. Boys responded to the category of the behavior and to the sex of their peer and gave more positive responses to other boys when the boys were engaged in male-preferred activities. Both girls and teachers were effective in changing the behavior of other girls, but neither could influence boys to change; boys were effective in influencing other boys but not in influencing girls. It is suggested that although reinforcements do appear to affect the likelihood of a behavior continuing, other factors must be at work, for behaviors are maintained even under conditions of no responses, and, most important, the reinforcements themselves are most effective when they have been processed in terms of gender. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The impact of generic language about ability on children's achievement motivation.

Nuances in how adults talk about ability may have important consequences for children's sustained involvement and success in an activity. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that children would be less motivated while performing a novel activity if they were told that boys or girls in general are good at this activity (generic language) than if they were told that a particular boy or girl is good at it (non-generic language). Generic language may be detrimental because it expresses normative societal expectations regarding performance. If these expectations are negative, they may cause children to worry about confirming them; if positive, they may cause worries about failing to meet them. Moreover, generic statements may be threatening because they imply that performance is the result of stable traits rather than effort. Ninety-seven 4- to 7-year-olds were asked to play a game in which they succeeded at first but then made a few mistakes. Since young children remain optimistic in achievement situations until the possibility of failure is made clear, I hypothesized that 4- and 5-year-olds would not be affected by the implications of generic language until after they made mistakes; 6- and 7-year-olds, however, may be susceptible earlier. As expected, the older children who heard that boys or girls are good at this game displayed lower motivation (e.g., more negative emotions, lower perceived competence) from the start, while they were still succeeding and receiving praise. Four- and 5-year-olds who heard these generic statements had a similar reaction, but only after they made mistakes. These findings demonstrate that exposure to generic language about ability can be an obstacle to children's motivation and, potentially, their success. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of estrogen in bone growth and maturation during childhood and adolescence

Twenty years ago it was believed that pubertal growth was stimulated by testicular androgen in boys and by adrenal androgen in girls. Estrogen, which was used to inhibit growth in excessively tall girls, was not thought to have growth-promoting effects. We hypothesized that estrogen has a biphasic effect on epiphyseal growth, with maximal stimulation at low levels. We showed that the administration of low doses of estrogen, corresponding to a serum estradiol level of about 4 pg/ml (15 pmol/l) caused more than a 60% increase over the prepubertal growth rate in both boys and girls. To test the hypothesis that estrogen is the principal mediator of the pubertal growth spurt in boys, we administered the aromatase inhibitor, testolactone, to boys with familial male-limited precocious puberty. Testolactone produced near normalization of both growth velocity and bone maturation, despite levels of serum testosterone that remained within the adult male range. The observation that low levels of estrogen stimulate growth and bone maturation suggested that estrogen might explain the more rapid epiphyseal maturation of prepubertal girls compared to boys. To determine whether prepubertal girls have higher estrogen levels than prepubertal boys, we developed an ultrasensitive recombinant cell bioassay for estrogen with a sensitivity of 0.02 pg/ml (0.07 pmol/l) estradiol equivalents. Prepubertal girls had approximately eight-fold higher levels of serum estradiol than did prepubertal boys (0.6 +/- 0.6 pg/ml (SD) (2.2 +/- 2.2 pmol/l) vs 0.08 +/- 0.2 pg/ml (0.29 +/- 0.73 pmol/l), P < 0.05). We concluded that the pubertal growth spurt of both sexes is driven primarily by estrogen, and that the more rapid epiphyseal maturation of prepubertal girls (vs boys) may be explained by their higher estradiol levels.     

Sex differences in learned helplessness: II. The contingencies of evaluative feedback in the classroom and III. An experimental analysis.

Girls show greater evidence than boys of learned helplessness in achievement situations with adult (but not peer) evaluators: They attribute their failures to lack of ability rather than motivation and thus show impaired performance under failure. Two studies are reported linking sex differences in attributions to adults' use of evaluative feedback. Study 1, with 52 4th graders and 27 5th graders, revealed that both the contingencies of feedback in classrooms and the attributions made by teachers were ones that would render negative evaluation more indicative of ability for girls than boys. For example, negative evaluation of girls' performance referred almost exclusively to intellectual inadequacies, whereas 45% of boys' work-related criticism referred to nonintellectual aspects. Moreover, teachers attributed the boys' failures to lack of motivation significantly more than they did the girls' failures. In Study 2, with 60 5th graders, teacher–boy and teacher–girl contingencies of work-related criticism observed in classrooms were programmed in an experimental situation. Both boys and girls receiving the teacher–girl contingency were more likely to view subsequent failure feedback from that evaluator as indicative of their ability. Implications for developmental theories and for development are addressed. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Identification of Nramp2 as an iron transport protein: another piece of the intestinal iron absorption puzzle

The attitudes of young men and women to breastfeeding were examined including perceived incentives and barriers to the practice in cross sectional survey and focus group discussion. The study involoved 177 (100%) fifth and final year students of both sexes and a subsample of 48 students in 6 focus groups in three post primary schools in an Irish midland town. Overall 28% reported that they themselves were breastfed. The most frequent sources of information were the media rather than home or school. A majority of girls (86%) and boys (77%) agreed that breastfeeding was the best method of feeding, but less intended the practice for their children (54%), girls being significantly less likely than boys. There were no patterns in relation to social class and lifestyle. Reasons for breastfeeding in the focus groups included its naturalness, facility of feeding and adequate nourishment. Reasons against related to embarrassment in public, but mainly related to perceived problems with the practicalities of feeding. Health promotion strategies need to reach young people before they initiate pregnancies. Skills based health education courses would be helpful and girls should be aware of the positive attitudes of boys generally.