Time consciousness, achievement striving, and the Type A coronary-prone behavior pattern.

Investigated some behavioral consequences of a coronary-prone behavior pattern called Type A, which is characterized by excessive achievement striving and a sense of time urgency. Ss were 62 undergraduates who were classified by the Jenkins Activity Survey for Health Prediction. The impatient tendencies of Type A Ss led them to judge the lapse of 1 min sooner than non-coronary-prone Type B Ss. Results also indicate that Type As worked on a task at near maximum capacity, irrespective of the presence or absence of a time deadline. Type Bs, by contrast, exerted more effort only when the task had an explicit deadline. Both time-estimation and performance findings are discussed in terms of Pattern A as a coping strategy for maintaining control over the physical and social environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abstract versus concrete goals: Personal striving level, physical illness, and psychological well-being.

Examined the relation between personal striving level and psychological and physical well-being. Level refers to the degree of generality vs specificity of one's goal strivings. In 3 studies, 188 Ss generated lists of their personal strivings, which were then rated on specificity level. High-level striving was associated with more psychological distress, particularly depression. Low-level striving was related to higher levels of physical illness. Correlations between striving level and self-reported symptoms were generally not as strong as those between level and the more objective illness indicators. High-level strivings were seen as more difficult and requiring more effort than low-level strivings. Results are interpreted in terms of control theory, goal-setting theory, and the repressive personality style. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evidence of social comparison in mastery goals in natural academic settings.

Proponents of achievement goal theory typically posit social comparison to be associated with performance goals but not with mastery goals (C. Ames, 1992). Contrary to this postulate, there is some evidence that individuals who are experimentally induced to adopt mastery goals may also use social comparison (e.g., R. Butler, 1992). However, such laboratory studies do not take into account the reality of the classroom, where evidence proves that students can endorse both types of goals. This leaves open the question of whether mastery goals are associated with social comparison, even after controlling for performance goals. The purpose of this study was to examine this question. French junior high school students completed a self-report survey assessing their personal achievement goals (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals) and their social comparison orientation (SCO) at school. Findings indicated that both types of achievement goals were positively associated with students' SCO. Moreover, mastery goals were still related to SCO even after controlling for performance goals. Implications of the interplay between achievement goals and social comparison theories are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of chronic achievement motivation and achievement primes on the activation of achievement and fun goals.

This research examined the hypothesis that situational achievement cues can elicit achievement or fun goals depending on chronic differences in achievement motivation. In 4 studies, chronic differences in achievement motivation were measured, and achievement-denoting words were used to influence behavior. The effects of these variables were assessed on self-report inventories, task performance, task resumption following an interruption, and the pursuit of means relevant to achieving or having fun. Findings indicated that achievement priming (vs. control priming) activated a goal to achieve and inhibited a goal to have fun in individuals with chronically high-achievement motivation but activated a goal to have fun and inhibited a goal to achieve in individuals with chronically low-achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coronary-prone behavior pattern and interpersonal aggression.

An overt behavior pattern called Type A has been implicated in the etiology of coronary heart disease. Pattern A is often characterized in terms of 3 components: competitive achievement striving, time urgency, and aggressiveness. The noncoronary-prone Pattern B is defined as the relative absence of Type A characteristics. Experimentation has shown that 2 of the components of Pattern A—achievement striving and time urgency—emerge only when appropriate situations confront susceptible individuals. The present research was designed to show that the aggressiveness component is also elicited when the Type A individual is challenged by appropriate environmental circumstances. Male undergraduates were exposed to a situation that did or did not threaten their sense of competence and mastery. An opportunity was then given to administer an electric shock to a confederate involved in the threat. In Study 1 with 23 As and 25 Bs as determined by the Jenkins Activity Survey, the instigation procedure increased aggression among As but did so to a lesser degree among Bs. In Study 2 with 38 As and 43 Bs, a similar instigation difference between As and Bs occurred, along with a larger difference in a frustration-only condition. Findings are discussed in terms of Pattern A as a response style for maintaining and asserting control over the physical and social environment. Consideration is also given to possible associations between Pattern A traits and biochemical processes that characterize coronary disease. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interplay between personal goals and classroom goal structures in predicting student outcomes: A multilevel analysis of person-context interactions.

This study examined cross-level interactions between personal goals and classroom goal structures, as well as their additive contributions to predicting math achievement, engagement, interest, effort withdrawal, and avoidance coping, using a sample of 3,943 Grade 5 students from 130 classrooms. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that classroom performance goal structures exacerbated (a) the negative association between personal performance-avoidance goals and engagement and (b) the positive relations of personal performance-avoidance goals to effort withdrawal and avoidance coping. Moreover, both classroom performance goal structures and personal performance-avoidance goals had maladaptive patterns of relations to outcomes at their respective levels of analysis, whereas classroom mastery goal structures and personal mastery goals showed adaptive relations. Our findings underscore the importance of a multilevel interactionist perspective in understanding achievement motivation and making recommendations for educational practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior, attentional style, and symptom reporting among adult men and women.

Examined Type A (coronary-prone) behavior, measured by the Jenkins Activity Survey (JAS), in relation to attentional style and symptom reporting in 140 men (mean age 36.4 yrs) and 154 women (mean age 35.9 yrs). Results show that for men and women, JAS Type A, Job Involvement, and Hard Driving factors were all associated with self-reported attentional effectiveness on a test of attentional and interpersonal style. A 4th JAS factor, Speed and Impatience, was associated with measures of cognitive overload. Type A, Speed and Impatience, and Hard Driving factors were positively associated with medical and psychological symptoms on the Cornell Medical Index. Acute psychological distress on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist was associated with Type A behavior for men and with Speed and Impatience for both sexes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior pattern, inhibited power motivation, and activity inhibition.

The constructs of the Type A behavior pattern and the Inhibited Power Motive Syndrome (IPMS) have many features in common. The empirical relation between the two constructs was investigated in this study with 45 employed, male medical and surgical patients. Four different measures of the Type A pattern were examined. Results showed that, of the four measures, the Structured Interview and the Hostility Scale were related significantly to the IPMS. Systolic blood pressure reactivity was also related significantly to the IPMS. These relations could be ascribed largely to activity inhibition alone. The contribution of activity inhibition to an understanding of the biological and psychological substrates of the Type A behavior pattern is discussed. (42 ref) (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)     

The relation between Type A behavior and chronic emotional distress: A meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted of studies examining the relation between Type A behavior and chronic emotional distress as measured by standard psychological scales. Aggregating across all studies, the average effect size was .27, indicating a positive association between Type A and chronic dysphoria; however, there was considerable variability in the size of the relation among studies. Partitioning by Type A measure revealed that Structured Interview-assessed Type A was unrelated to chronic dysphoric emotions; however, most of the self-report measures of Type A behavior were moderately correlated with upset. The Framingham Type A Scale and the Bortner Scale showed the strongest relations. Thus, contrary to the traditional view, Type A measured by self-report does have some emotional concomitants, although they are not in the pathological range. Also discussed are how the results bear on the proposal that the maladjusted personality confers coronary risk, the implications for reported associations between Type A and illness complaints, and for the study of the Type A as a social psychological construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of personal and universal failure on the subsequent performance of persons with Type A and Type B behavior patterns.

Compared the task performance of Type A (coronary prone) and Type B (noncoronary prone) persons following failure on a task in which no one succeeded (universal failure) vs failure on a task in which others had succeeded (personal failure). Postfailure performance was measured in terms of speed of completion of anagrams. 26 Type A and 28 Type B undergraduates were selected based on their scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey. Initial analyses indicated that the failure manipulation was effective in influencing the Ss' perceived cause of their failures and that Ss were more anxious and depressed following personal than universal failure. Type A's performed better following personal than universal failure, whereas type of failure had no effect on the performance of Type B's. Results suggest that, contrary to what is usually thought, Type A's do not struggle for success indiscriminately and that there are situational determinants of the level of effort that Type A's will expend. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-worth protection in achievement motivation: Performance effects and attributional behavior.

Two experiments tested central assumptions of the self-worth theory of achievement motivation. This theory states that certain students, known as self-work protective students, will voluntarily withdraw effort in achievement situations in which poor performance is likely to be attributed to low ability. Thereby, a sense of self-worth is protected. Self-worth theory also states that these students will perform well in situations in which a mitigating excuse allows poor performance to be attributed to a factor that is unrelated to ability. Experiment 1 confirmed that self-worth protective students perform well following failure that allows a face-saving opportunity but perform poorly following failure that does not allow face-saving. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed that the poor performance of self-worth protective students following failure is associated with a lesser tendency to assume personal responsibility for failure. These findings are discussed in terms of strategies for modifying the achievement-limiting behaviors of self-worth protective students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of Academic Self-Handicapping and Achievement: Examining Achievement Goals, Classroom Goal Structures, and Culture.

The purposes of this study were to examine the predictors and achievement consequences of academic self-handicapping and to explore cultural variations in the pursuit and effects of performance goals and perceived classroom performance goal structures. Data were collected in 2 consecutive academic years from a diverse sample of high school students (N=675). Performance-avoidance and classroom performance goal structure were positively associated with self-handicapping, whereas performance-approach goals negatively predicted handicapping. Self-handicapping was negatively associated with achievement in English. Cultural differences in the effects of performance goals on achievement and in the effects of classroom performance goal structure on the subsequent adoption of personal performance goals were found. Implications for efforts to alter classroom goal structures are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation.

A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation was proposed and tested in a college classroom with 178 undergraduates. Mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals were assessed and their antecedents and consequences examined. Results indicated that mastery goals were grounded in achievement motivation and high competence expectancies; performance-avoidance goals, in fear of failure and low competence expectancies; and performance-approach goals, in achievement motivation, fear of failure, and high competence expectancies. Mastery goals facilitated intrinsic motivation, performance-approach goals enhanced graded performance, and performance-avoidance goals proved inimical to both intrinsic motivation and graded performance. The proposed model represents an integration of classic and contemporary approaches to the study of achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Type A behavior, social support, stress, and physical and psychological well-being among Japanese women

The present study examined the relationships among self-report scores for Type A behavior, social support, and stress, and those for physical and psychological well-being among 152 Japanese female college students. Significant interactions were found between scores for Type A behavior and social support, indicating that individuals who report higher Type A behavior as well as higher social support tended to rate their physical and psychological well-being higher than those who reported higher Type A behavior but lower social support.     

Ressources personnelles et détresse psychologique en lien avec le rendement scolaire et le stress chez des élèves de quatrième secondaire.

The goal of this study is to predict school performance and psychological distress from three indicators of distress, two personal resources, gender and, from an exploratory variable entitled "anxiety before exams". Data was collected from 374 French Canadian speaking (grade 10) teenagers. They completed questionnaires on psychological stress, depression, loneliness, feelings of self-efficacy, and self-esteem. School performance scores were obtained at the end of the first semester. Findings indicated that girls, as compared to boys, were more threatened by daily hassles, showed more psychological distress and less personal resources, but obtained a similar score of school performance even though they felt much more worried before exams. Both regression analyses showed that school performance (7% of the variance obtained) and psychological stress (58% of the variance obtained) are significantly associated with the variables introduced in this study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Student motivation in middle school: The role of perceived pedagogical caring.

This study examined adolescents' perceptions of pedagogical caring in relation to their motivation to achieve positive social and academic outcomes in middle school. A longitudinal sample of 248 students was followed from 6th to 8th grade. Perceived caring from teachers predicted motivational outcomes, even when students' current levels of psychological distress and beliefs about personal control, as well as previous (6th grade) motivation and performance, were taken into account. Eighth-grade students characterize supportive and caring teachers along dimensions suggested by N. Noddings (1992) and models of effective parenting (D. Baumrind, 1971). Teachers who care were described as demonstrating democratic interaction styles, developing expectations for student behavior in light of individual differences, modeling a "caring" attitude toward their own work, and providing constructive feedback. The implications for understanding links between teacher behavior and student achievement are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Individual differences in achievement goals among young children

Developmental research has generally not found evidence of helpless responses to failure in young children; a prevailing view is that young children lack the cognitive prerequisite for helplessness. However, recent evidence suggests that even preschoolers are vulnerable to helplessness in some situations. In the present study with 4- and 5-year-olds, we tested a goal-confidence model that predicts achievement behavior during failure for older children. We first categorized preschoolers' orientations toward "learning" or "performance" goals based on their preference for a challenging or nonchallenging task. As for older children, goal orientation was independent of ability and predicted cognitions and emotions during failure. Further, consistent with the model, within a learning goal, children displayed the mastery-oriented pattern regardless of confidence level, whereas within a performance goal, children with low confidence were most susceptible to helplessness. These behavior patterns were found on a second task as well. Thus, our findings show that individual differences in achievement goals emerge very early.     

Social insecurity and coronary-prone Type A responses as identifiers of severe atherosclerosis.

Tests measuring the coronary-prone Type A behavior pattern, anxiety, and neuroticism (Jenkins Activity Survey and a series of true–false items dealing with the latter 2 characteristics) were administered to 95 26–68 yr old male patients undergoing coronary angiography. Item analyses suggest that Ss with more serious coronary atherosclerosis were hard-driving, hard-working Type A individuals who put pressure on themselves to solve problems, meet deadlines, and move up the social ladder. At the same time, these patients were often uncomfortable in their interpersonal relationships, and they felt awkward and insecure in groups. They obtained their rewards in life from seeking achievement rather than from socializing with people. They seemed to have a low threshold for becoming tense or depressed. Results suggest that the combination of these 2 sets of essentially independent psychological characteristics, Type A behavior and social insecurity, portends a greater severity of atherosclerosis than the possession of either single characteristic alone. (23 ref) (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)