The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation.

Competence-based stereotypes can negatively affect women's performance in math and science (referred to as stereotype threat), presumably leading to lower motivation. The authors examined the effects of stereotype threat on interest, a motivational path not necessarily mediated by performance. They predicted that working on a computer science task in the context of math-gender stereotypes would negatively affect undergraduate women's task interest, particularly for those higher in achievement motivation who were hypothesized to hold performance-avoidance goals in response to the threat. Compared with when the stereotype was nullified, while under stereotype threat an assigned performance-avoidance (vs. -approach) goal was associated with lower interest for women higher in achievement motivation (Study 1), and women higher (vs. lower) in achievement motivation were more likely to spontaneously adopt performance-avoidance goals (Study 2). The motivational influence of performance-avoidance goals under stereotype threat was primarily mediated by task absorption (Study 3). Implications for the stereotyped task engagement process (Smith, 2004) are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework.

Two studies examined hypotheses drawn from a proposed modification of the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation that centered on the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. Implicit theories of ability were shown to be direct predictors of performance attainment and intrinsic motivation, and the goals of the 2 × 2 framework were shown to account for these direct relations. Perceived competence was shown to be a direct predictor of achievement goals, not a moderator of relations implicit theory or achievement goal effects. The results highlight the utility of attending to the approach-avoidance distinction in conceptual models of achievement motivation and are fully in line with the hierarchical model of achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement.

This study tested a framework in which goals are proposed to be central determinants of achievement patterns. Learning goals, in which individuals seek to increase their competence, were predicted to promote challenge-seeking and a mastery-oriented response to failure regardless of perceived ability. Performance goals, in which individuals seek to gain favorable judgments of their competence or avoid negative judgments, were predicted to produce challenge-avoidance and learned helplessness when perceived ability was low and to promote certain forms of risk-avoidance even when perceived ability was high. Manipulations of relative goal value (learning vs. performance) and perceived ability (high vs. low) resulted in the predicted differences on measures of task choice, performance during difficulty, and spontaneous verbalizations during difficulty. Particularly striking was the way in which the performance goal-low perceived ability condition produced the same pattern of strategy deterioration, failure attribution, and negative affect found in naturally occurring learned helplessness. Implications for theories of motivation and achievement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Revision of achievement goal theory: Necessary and illuminating.

C. Midgley et al. (2001) raised important questions about the effects of performance-approach goals. The present authors disagree with their characterization of the research findings and implications for theory. They discuss 3 reasons to revise goal theory: (a) the importance of separating approach from avoidance strivings, (b) the positive potential of performance-approach goals, and (c) identification of the ways performance-approach goals can combine with mastery goal to promote optimal motivation. The authors review theory and research to substantiate their claim that goal theory is in need of revision, and they endorse a multiple goal perspective. The revision of goal theory is underway and offers a more complex, but necessary, perspective on important issues of motivation, learning, and achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship of experimentally aroused achievement motivation to academic achievement anxiety.

180 Ss, balanced for sex, were administered the Achievement Anxiety Test (AAT) under experimental conditions producing either minimal or high arousal of achievement motivation. Regression of scholastic aptitude and AAT scores on grade-point average (GPA) showed both AAT scales accounting for the same variance in GPA. Analyses of variance of AAT scores showed no sex differences, but highly significant main effects for experimental condition and level of scholastic aptitude. It was concluded that test anxiety is a unidimensional construct, and that the AAT is a measure of anxiety aroused by stress cues present during test taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes.

The authors provide an analytic framework for studying the joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes. This framework encompasses 3 models (the direct effect model, indirect effect model, and interaction effect model), each of which addresses a different aspect of the joint influence of the 2 goal levels. These 3 models were examined together with a sample of 1,578 Japanese junior high and high school students from 47 classrooms. Results provided support for each of the 3 models: Classroom goal structures were not only direct, but also indirect predictors of intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept, and some cross-level interactions between personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures were observed (indicating both goal match and goal mismatch effects). A call is made for more research that takes into consideration achievement goals at both personal and structural levels of representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Within-grade changes in Korean girls' motivation and perceptions of the learning environment across domains and achievement levels.

This study tested whether students' motivation and perceptions of the learning environment changed significantly within the school year. Korean high school girls' (N = 375) perceptions of the performance goal structures in the environment increased significantly throughout the school year. The girls' personal achievement goals and task value demonstrated few significant within-grade changes, but their self-efficacy fluctuated significantly around examinations. Motivational beliefs were more stable than were perceptions of the environment. Nevertheless, the modified perceptions of the learning environment explained changes in motivation, justifying continued efforts to create a motivationally adaptive environment. Construct relations were consistent across different academic contexts. There was no evidence that low-achieving girls responded more negatively to the classroom performance goals than did their better-achieving peers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal setting, achievement orientation, and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis.

Investigated the interactive effects of achievement orientation and evaluative focus of assigned, task-specific goals on intrinsic motivation for an enjoyable pinball game. Regression analyses revealed that the effect of performance or mastery-focused goals on intrinsic motivation varied as a function of achievement orientation. Specifically, the provision of task-specific standards with a performance focus enhanced intrinsic motivation for achievement-oriented individuals, whereas the assignment of such goals proved deleterious to the intrinsic motivation of those low in achievement orientation. Individuals low in achievement orientation displayed the highest levels of intrinsic motivation when provided with mastery-focused goals. A similar pattern of effects was obtained on competence valuation and task involvement, both of which were additionally validated as mediators of the direct effects on intrinsic motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Preschool measures of self-esteem and achievement motivation as predictors of third-grade achievement.

Longitudinal data on 404 children from predominantly low-income areas in 3 regionally distinct sites were used to determine (a) the relation of preschool, kindergarten, and 1st-grade measures of self-esteem and achievement motivation (the Brown IDS Self-Concept Referents Test and Gumpgookies, respectively) to reading, mathematics, and problem-solving (Raven Colored Progressive Matrices) performance in the 3rd grade; and (b) whether such measures can improve on predictions made solely from an early achievement measure (Caldwell's Preschool Inventory). Although the early self-esteem scores had a strong negative skew, they contributed significantly to predictions of 3rd-grade performance. However, the predictive variation in the scores may have represented differences in task understanding and attentiveness rather than differences in self-esteem. Achievement motivation scores, especially in the year prior to entrance into 1st grade, contributed significantly to predictions of later achievement. Results varied somewhat by sex, socioeconomic status, and geographical site. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceptions of classroom environment, achievement goals, and achievement outcomes.

Two studies examined the relationship between undergraduates' perceptions of their classroom environment, their adoption of achievement goals for the course, and their graded performance and intrinsic motivation. Results revealed a distinct antecedent profile for each goal in the trichotomous framework: Mastery goals were linked to the presence of lecture engagement and the absence of an evaluation focus and harsh evaluation, performance-approach goals were linked to the presence of evaluation focus, and performance-avoidance goals were linked to the presence of evaluation focus and harsh evaluation. When the perceived classroom environment and achievement goal variables were tested together as predictors of graded performance and intrinsic motivation, the results clearly demonstrated that the influence of the perceived classroom environment on these outcomes measures was indirect; the perceived classroom environment influenced achievement goal adoption, and achievement goal adoption, in turn, directly influenced graded performance and intrinsic motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship of persistence at a task to expectation of success and achievement related motives.

This investigation examines the effects of S's motivation to achieve success or avoid failure (measured from TAT), his preception of the degree of difficulty of the task, and his probability of success upon continued attempts (persistence) to solve a given problem. Substantiating hypotheses derived from Atkinson's theory (1957, 1958), the results indicated that persistence occurs when motivation to achieve and anticipation of success are high, or when motivation to avoid failure and anticipation of failure are high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some characteristics of the achievement motive in women.

The hypothesis that female Ss would respond to arousal cues with heightened achievement motivation scores and high moitvation performance relationships when the cues were related to a goal that was achievement-relevant to the Ss but not otherwise was advanced to explain hitherto inconsistent experimental results obtained in this area with female Ss. Additional hypotheses stated that both these effects would be greater when female figures were used in the projective measure of motivation except in the case of girls who valued both the goals—intellectual and woman's role—when they were presented with intellectual arousal cues. In this case the effects should be greater when male figures are used. The hypotheses were confirmed except that motivation scores were always higher under intellectual arousal when male figures were used and under woman's role arousal when female figures were used. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Disparity theory and achievement motivation.

This study tested hypotheses derived from Peak's disparity theory of motivation. Achievement motivation and disparity indices were obtained from 40 VA domiciliary members. The data supported the hypothesis that achievement motivation varies directly with the life goal-present status disparity when low and moderate disparity levels are considered. The hypothesis that motivational decline ensues when the disparity exceeds a certain magnitude could not be adequately tested in this study. The finding that the variability of the achievement-motivation scores increased significantly and the informal observation that the achievement motivation tended to decrease as the disparity exceeded a certain magnitude, however, suggested the motivational decline hypothesis as a fruitful prediction to be tested in future research. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent classroom goals, standards for performance, and academic achievement: An interactionist perspective.

In the 1st study, correlational results from 203 high school students suggest that achievement, as indexed by grade point average (GPA), is positively related to efforts to be a successful student, be dependable and responsible, understand things, do one's very best, and get things done on time, and negatively related to trying to have fun. Student GPAs were also related to the number of goals and the unique sets of goals that students try to achieve. In the 2nd study, with a subsample of 107 students, the motivational characteristics of students that predicted GPAs did not predict Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Findings of the 1st study suggest the potential relevance of motivation to achieve socially prescribed as well as cognitive outcomes for explaining academic performance in the classroom. The importance of studying motivation–performance relationships within context is suggested by the fact that the findings of Study 1 were not replicated when nonclassroom evaluations of performance were used as indices of academic achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relation of achievement motivation to problem-solving effectiveness.

"When a problem is related to achievement goals… . Subjects with high achievement motivation were more likely to reach a solution than those with low motivation… the actual solution time for those who solved was not different for the two motivation groups… . Other findings… are discussed and tentative interpretations are offered." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A meta-analytic review of achievement goal measures: Different labels for the same constructs or different constructs with similar labels?

This meta-analysis addresses whether achievement goal researchers are using different labels for the same constructs or putting the same labels on different constructs. We systematically examined whether conceptual and methodological differences in the measurement of achievement goals moderated achievement goal intercorrelations and relationships with outcomes. We reviewed 243 correlational studies of self-reported achievement goals comprising a total of 91,087 participants. The items used to measure achievement goals were coded as being goal relevant (future-focused, cognitively represented, competence-related end states that the individual approaches or avoids) and were categorized according to the different conceptual definitions found within the literature. The results indicated that achievement goal–outcome and goal–goal correlations differed significantly depending on the goal scale chosen, the individual items used to assess goal strivings, and sociodemographic characteristics of the sample under study. For example, performance-approach goal scales coded as having a majority of normatively referenced items had a positive correlation with performance outcomes (r? = .14), whereas scales with a majority of appearance and evaluative items had a negative relationship (r? = ?.14). Mastery-approach goal scales that contained goal-relevant language were not significantly related to performance outcomes (r? = .05), whereas those that did not contain goal-relevant language had a positive relationship with performance outcomes (r? = .14). We concluded that achievement goal researchers are using the same label for conceptually different constructs. This discrepancy between conceptual and operational definitions and the absence of goal-relevant language in achievement goal measures may be preventing productive theory testing, research synthesis, and practical application. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Stability and change in achievement goals.

The present research examined the nature of stability and change in achievement goal endorsement over time, using 4 complementary data-analytic approaches (differential continuity, mean-level change, individual-level change, and ipsative continuity). Three longitudinal studies were conducted in college classrooms; in each study, achievement goals were assessed prior to a series of 3 course examinations. All 3 studies yielded evidence for consistent patterns of both stability and change in each achievement goal under consideration. Fear of failure was linked to greater change in individuals' achievement goal clusters over time. Implications of the present findings for understanding the important and overlooked issue of achievement goal stability and change are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions: A theoretical model and prospective test.

A theoretical model linking achievement goals to discrete achievement emotions is proposed. The model posits relations between the goals of the trichotomous achievement goal framework and 8 commonly experienced achievement emotions organized in a 2 (activity/outcome focus) × 2 (positive/negative valence) taxonomy. Two prospective studies tested the model in German and American college classrooms. The results were largely in line with the hypotheses. Mastery goals were positive predictors of enjoyment of learning, hope, and pride and were negative predictors of boredom and anger. Performance-approach goals were positive predictors of pride, whereas performance-avoidance goals were positive predictors of anxiety, hopelessness, and shame. The results were consistent across studies and robust when controlled for gender, GPA, social desirability, temperament, and competence expectancy. The research is discussed with regard to the underdeveloped literature on achievement emotions and with regard to the motivation and emotion research domains more broadly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis.

Most contemporary achievement goal conceptualizations consist of a performance goal versus mastery goal dichotomy. The present research offers an alternative framework by partitioning the performance goal orientation into independent approach and avoidance motivational orientations. Two experiments investigated the predictive utility of the proposed approach-avoidance achievement goal conceptualization in the intrinsic motivation domain. Results from both experiments supported the proposed framework; only performance goals grounded in the avoidance of failure undermined intrinsic motivation. Task involvement was validated as a mediator of the observed effects on intrinsic motivation. Ramifications for the achievement goal approach to achievement motivation and future research avenues are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental arousal of achievement motivation in adolescent girls.

2 groups of female high school students (40 achievers and 40 underachievers, matched for IQ) were exposed to 2 experimental conditions (Neutral and Achievement Oriented) and 2 types of pictures (those depicting males and those depicting females). The overall effect of the experimental achievement arsousal conditions for all girls was nonsignificant. However, a highly significant 2nd-order interaction effect was obtained: the achievement motivation scores of achievers increased significantly in response to Achievement Oriented conditions when they produced stories to pictures of females but did not increase in response to pictures of males; by contrast, the achievement motivation scores of underachievers increased significantly in response to Achievement Oriented conditions when they produced stories to pictures of males but did not increase in response to pictures of females. (43 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)