A question of belonging: Race, social fit, and achievement.

Stigmatization can give rise to belonging uncertainty. In this state, people are sensitive to information diagnostic of the quality of their social connections. Two experiments tested how belonging uncertainty undermines the motivation and achievement of people whose group is negatively characterized in academic settings. In Experiment 1, students were led to believe that they might have few friends in an intellectual domain. Whereas White students were unaffected, Black students (stigmatized in academics) displayed a drop in their sense of belonging and potential. In Experiment 2, an intervention that mitigated doubts about social belonging in college raised the academic achievement (e.g., college grades) of Black students but not of White students. Implications for theories of achievement motivation and intervention are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of questionnaire and TAT measures of need for achievement: Two meta-analyses.

Proponents of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), most notably D. C. McClelland, have argued that the TAT and questionnaires are valid measures of different aspects of achievement motivation. Critics of the TAT have argued that questionnaires but not the TAT are valid measures of the need for achievement. Two meta-analyses of 105 randomly selected empirical research articles found that correlations between TAT measures of need for achievement and outcomes were on average positive; that these correlations were particularly large for outcomes such as career success measured in the presence of intrinsic, or task-related, achievement incentives; that questionnaire measures of need for achievement were also positively correlated with outcomes, particularly in the presence of external or social achievement incentives; and that on average TAT-based correlations were larger than questionnaire-based correlations. The theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent constructs of proximal and distal motivation predicting performance under maximum test conditions.

The concept of a maximum-typical performance dimension has received theoretical and empirical support in research on the construct of job performance. The critical distinction between maximum and typical performance resides in the postulate that under maximum test conditions motivational factors will be constant and maximal. The present study challenges the notion of the maximum performance paradigm by testing the effects of proximal (self-efficacy) and distal (need for achievement) motivation on performance under maximum test conditions. The authors used a walk-through performance test to evaluate the performance of 90 employees. The structural model demonstrates significant pathways between latent measures of motivation and performance ratings. The findings confirm the explanatory power of the motivation construct under maximum test conditions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The graying of achievement motivation.

The increasing preponderance of older persons in American society has prompted psychologists to consider developmental processes from a life-span perspective. While research and theory related to achievement motivation are inherently associated with earlier stages of development, the study of achievement-related motives and patterns in the later years is necessary for a more complete understanding of their place in human development. Additionally, such a study should prove profitable in stimulating new approaches to a general understanding of motivation and achievement. It is suggested that recent cross-cultural work on achievement motivation can provide an appropriate analog as well as specific procedures for cross-age studies. The study of older persons may eventuate in a redefinition of achievement motivation. Specifically considered is the possibility that more extrinsic, competitive patterns of achievement give way with age to more intrinsic, task-oriented patterns and that, with an aging population, this shift may be reflected in the culture as a whole. (50 ref) (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)     

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)     

Collective efficacy: A neglected construct in the study of schools and student achievement.

A theoretical analysis is advanced that discusses social cognitive theory at the group level to explain the formation and impact of collective efficacy. The study used student- and school-level data from a sample of urban elementary schools. Consistent with social cognitive theory, mastery experience was found to be a significant predictor of differences between schools in teachers' collective efficacy perceptions. In addition, after controlling for student demographic characteristics and prior achievement, collective efficacy was positively and significantly related to differences among schools in student achievement. Finally, the amount of consensus among faculty members regarding collective efficacy perceptions was not a significant predictor of student achievement, nor was it significantly related to school socioeconomic status or minority concentration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-efficacy pathways to childhood depression.

This prospective research analyzed how different facets of perceived self-efficacy operate in concert within a network of sociocognitive influences in childhood depression. Perceived social and academic inefficacy contributed to concurrent and subsequent depression both directly and through their impact on academic achievement, prosocialness, and problem behaviors. In the shorter run, children were depressed over beliefs in their academic inefficacy rather than over their actual academic performances. In the longer run, the impact of a low sense of academic efficacy on depression was mediated through academic achievement, problem behavior, and prior depression. Perceived social inefficacy had a heavier impact on depression in girls than in boys in the longer term. Depression was also more strongly linked over time for girls than for boys. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal structures and teachers' sense of efficacy: Their relation and association to teaching experience and academic level.

Goal structures reflect the motivational beliefs promoted by the prevailing instructional policies and procedures within an academic setting. Teachers' sense of efficacy refers to individuals' judgments or beliefs regarding their ability to accomplish critical instructional tasks. The relation between these constructs and differences on the basis of teaching experience and academic level were investigated. Teachers (N = 1,024) completed a self-report instrument via the Internet. Results indicated that teachers' sense of efficacy could be used to explain the classroom mastery goal structure they reported. Also, some aspects of teachers' sense of efficacy were greater for those with more teaching experience, whereas differences in goal structures were associated with academic level. Findings are discussed with regard to their implications for both theory and teacher training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement motivation in college women: A now-you-see-it-now-you-don't phenomenon.

Describes the Wellesley Role-Orientation Scale (WROS), developed as part of an effort to explore the contradictory results of research on achievement motivation in women. Ss scoring high on the WROS have a traditional view of women's role; low scorers have a nontraditional orientation. A number of projective approaches were used, and analysis of the resulting protocols showed 2 broad categories of thema: success and avoidance of success. Achievement motivation as measured by the WROS was clearly related to thema category. It is concluded that the inconsistent results of research in this area probably arise from methodological differences in the studies rather than from instability of the achievement motive. Among the significant variables are personality factors, sampling differences, differences in stimulus cues, and differences in scoring procedures. It is also suggested that previous research has been based too rigidly on the male model of achievement motivation; a reversal of cultural attitudes regarding the sex appropriateness of achievement may be taking place at present. (33 ref) (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)     

A Cross-Cultural Investigation of the Efficacy Beliefs of South Asian Immigrant and Anglo Canadian Nonimmigrant Early Adolescents.

The author explored the mathematics efficacy beliefs of 270 South Asian (Indo Canadian) immigrant and Anglo Canadian nonimmigrant Grade 7 students. Self-efficacy beliefs strongly predicted mathematics performance for both cultural groups, but there were differences between the 2 groups in the sources of self-efficacy, the predictiveness of the secondary motivation variables, and the vertical dimensions of individualism and collectivism. It is argued that the Indo Canadian students are more vertical or hierarchical than the Anglo Canadian students and that comparison with others strongly influences their motivation beliefs and the formation of their efficacy beliefs. Self-efficacy in some cultures may be more other-oriented than is typically seen in Western cultures. A caution against generalizing about Asian populations is given, and implications for school settings are explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for achievement and women's careers over 14 years: Evidence for occupational structure effects.

Achievement motivation was measured in 117 women as college seniors and again 14 years later. Senior-year achievement motivation predicted later employment in teaching (including college). Career-involved women who had been highly achievement-motivated in college valued status mobility and working with people and reported job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence; however, women in different career situations differed in the relations between their achievement motivation in college and their later work values, job perceptions, and sources of satisfaction. Women highly achievement-motivated in adulthood valued achievement-congenial working conditions and status mobility and described job satisfaction from competition with a standard of excellence, especially if they were supervisors. Professors and businesswomen showed larger increases in achievement motivation over 14 years than did women otherwise employed. Thus, achievement motivation predicts women's career outcomes when their values and work situations, along with sex-differentiated occupational structures, are considered. Occupational structure effects on motives over time are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role problems and the relationship of achievement motivation to scholastic performance.

82 2nd and 72 5th graders were asked questions concerning the expectations of their friends and teacher regarding their behavior as students. A measure of sociometric status was also obtained. It was hypothesized that role variables condition the relationship between achievement motivation and scholastic performance. In support of the hypothesis, a positive relationship between a socially based projective measure of achievement motivation and scholastic performance (grades and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills or Metropolitan Achievement Test) was found for upper graders who experienced low role conflict and also for upper graders who were high in sociometric status. It was also found that among upper graders, autonomously based achievement motivation related most strongly to the performance of children low in sociometric status. (22 ref) (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)     

Achievement motivation and level of aspiration: adolescent Ethiopian immigrants in the Israeli education system

This paper focuses on two questions: Are Ethiopian high school children who immigrated to Israel achievement motivated? To what extent does the presence or absence of certain components of the achievement construct in the indigenous value system of Ethiopian students affect progress at school? The study is based on pilot research conducted in Israel in 1987 for which the central research questions were: Are elements of motivation to be found in the indigenous value system of Ethiopian students? If so, what is their effect on progress at school? The research is based on a questionnaire administered to 88 Ethiopian students and 85 veteran Israeli students. The main findings of this research are: There are some elements in the socialization of Ethiopian students that can be looked upon as components of achievement motivation. These include a high level of aspiration, the ability to postpone gratification, and obedience. These elements help the Ethiopian children succeed at school. On the other hand, some elements in the socialization of Ethiopian children hinder their progress: conformity restraints on individual creativity and external locus of control.     

Advancing Achievement Goal Theory: Using Goal Structures and Goal Orientations to Predict Students' Motivation, Cognition, and Achievement.

The objective of this study was to investigate how different components of achievement goal theory were related to each other and to students' motivation, cognitive engagement, and achievement in mathematics. Junior high school students (N=525) completed a self-report survey that assessed their perceived classroom goal structures; personal goal orientations: and a collection of outcomes that included persistence, procrastination, choice, their use of cognitive and metacognitive learning strategies, and mathematics grade. Results indicate that mastery structure and mastery orientation were related to adaptive outcomes in all areas. The patterns of relations for performance-approach goal structure, and for performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal orientations were less uniform across outcomes. Implications for achievement goal theory and future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-enhancing and self-defeating ego orientation: Relations with task and avoidance orientation, achievement, self-perceptions, and anxiety.

Recent research in motivation has identified 2 main goal orientations: task orientation and ego orientation. Two studies of 6th- and 8th-grade Norwegian students tested the prediction that there are different dimensions of ego orientation (self-defeating and self-enhancing), that they may be separated from other goal orientations, and that they relate differently to academic achievement, self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem, anxiety, and intrinsic motivation. Results from both studies supported the predictions. The correlation between self-defeating and self-enhancing ego orientation was small, and these constructs had different relations to other variables in the study. Self-defeating ego orientation was associated with high anxiety and was negatively related to achievement and self-perceptions. Self-enhancing ego orientation was positively related to achievement, self-perceptions, and intrinsic motivation. (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)     

La motivation à l'accomplissement et l'auto-évaluation des performances en relation avec le rendement scolaire.

32 overachieving and 33 underachieving secondary school students, equated for IQ range were required to perform a series of school and nonschool tasks and to evaluate their own achievement on these tasks. Self-evaluation scores were then correlated with Ss' school achievement. Underachievers were self-critical, inconsistent in their answers, and had difficulty in accurate self-evaluation, indicating a low interiorization of high standards of performance in the tasks required. Results confirm the importance of the cognitive mechanisms controlling a task as motivating factors determining academic achievement. It is proposed that these mechanisms, when studied through self-evaluation, might supplement the theory of achievement motivation in explaining the lack of motivation observed in underachievers. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)