Definition

An acquired psychological process that grows out of ones socialization history that activates emotional responses to a particular need-relevant incentive.

Examples
Achievement Affiliation Intimacy Power

Table 7.2 Incentive That Activates Each Social Needs Emotional and Behavior Potential
Social Need Incentive that Activates Each Need

Achievement Affiliation Intimacy Power

Doing something well to show personal competence Opportunity to please others and gain their approval Warm, secure relationship Having impact on others

 The desire to do well relative to

a standard of excellence

 Certain environmental cues give rise to the

achievement motive Anticipation of success dominates thought processes causing one to approach and engage in tasks seen as leading to success. Task engagement feelings of challenge (natural incentive) Positive emotions associated with challenge reinforce link between cues and achievementoriented behavior

 Opportunity for personal responsibility

Tasks with intermediate levels of difficulty

and risk
Availability of clear and unambiguous

feedback
Competition

 College students with a high need for

achievement earned better grades than equally bright students with weaker nAch At work, high nAch get more raises and more promotions

Perhaps because they are constantly trying to think of betters ways of doing things

Companies with a larger percentage of high

nAch workers grow faster and are more pofitable

 High nAch people outperform low nAch

people when tasks are challenging or the importance of doing well is stressed

Do not outperform low nAch when tasks are easy and/or conditions relaxed

Socialization Influences
Parents independence training, high performance aspirations, realistic standards of excellence, positive valuing of achievement-related pursuits, etc.

Cognitive Influences
Perceptions of high ability Mastery orientation High expectations for success Strong valuing of achievement Optimistic attributional style

Developmental Influences
Achievement related beliefs, values, and emotions all show predictable developmental patterns.

Tendency to Approach Success (Ts)

Tendency to Avoid Failure (Taf)

Ta = (Ms Ps Is)
Ms: Motive to Success Ps : Perceived Probability of Success Is : Incentive Value of Success

(Maf Pf If )
Maf : Motive to Avoid Failure Pf : Perceived Probability of Failure (1- Ps) If : Negative Incentive value for Failure (1- Is)

Three Conditions

Moderately Difficult Tasks

Competition

Entrepreneurship

- Develop ones competence

Mastery Goals Two Main Achievement Goals Performance Goals

- Make progress - Improve the self - Overcome difficulties with effort and persistence

- Prove ones competence - Display high ability - Outperform others

- Succeed with little apparent

effort

 Goal is to gain positive judgments of your

competence and avoid negative ones Focus on demonstrating competence relative to others How do you do this?

Play it safe and avoid mistakes Choose tasks with high likelihood of success

 Goal is to increase competence

Reflects a desire to learn new skills, master

new tasks, or understand new things Self-referent rather than other-referent for measuring competence

Preference for a Challenging Task One can Learn From Use Conceptually
Adoption of a Mastery Goal

Work Harder

Based Learning Strategies

Persist Longer

(rather than a Performance Goal)

Experience Greater Intrinsic than Extrinsic Motivation

More Likely to Ask for Information & Help

Perform Better

Manifestations of Mastery and Performance Goals in the Classroom Context

Classroom Dimension
Success defined as Value placed on Reasons for satisfaction Teacher oriented toward Views errors or mistake as Focus of attention Reasons for effort Evaluation criteria

Mastery Goal
Improvement, progress Effort, learning Working hard, challenge How students are learning Part of learning Process of learning Learning something new Absolute progress

Performance Goal
High grades, high normative performance Normatively high ability Doing better than others How students are performing Anxiety eliciting Own performance relative to others performance High grades, performing better than others Normative

Table 7.4

Classical Approach
Atkinsons theory

Integrated Model

Contemporary Approach Achievement

goals

Achievement motivation

.22

Mastery goal
.26

.31

Intrinsic motivation

-.34

Competence expectancy

.21 -.14

Performanceapproach goal

.36

-.26 .41 .45

Graded performance
-.34

Fear of failure

Performanceavoidance goal

Mastery Goal

I want to learn as much as possible from this class. It is important for me to understand the content of this course as thoroughly as possible. I prefer course material that arouses my curiosity, even if it is difficult to learn.
It is important to me to do better than other students in this class. I am motivated by the thought of out performing my peers. My goal in this class is to get a better grade than most other students.

Performance Approach Goal

Performance Avoidance Goal

I often think to myself, What if I do badly in this class? I just want to avoid doing worse than others in this class. I am afraid to ask my instructor a dumb question, they might not think Im very smart.

*Self-esteem *Personal control *Vitality *Life satisfaction *Psychological well-being

Implicit Theories

Incremental Theorists

vs.

Entity Theorists

Changeable
Personal qualities Adoption of Achievement Goals

Fixed
qualities

Personal

Mastery Goals

Performance Goals

Meaning of Effort

Utility of effort: Challenging tasks require high effort.

High effort signals LOW ability.

Entity 80 70 60 50
Percent 40 choosing

Incremental 70 60 50
Percent 40 choosing

Entity

Incremental

30 20 10 0 Performance goal Mastery goal

30 20 10 0 Get a good grade Be Challenged

5th 8th Grade Sample

College Student Sample

Affiliation Need
Deficiency-oriented motive
Need-Involving Condition Deprivation from social interaction: Social isolation and fear

Intimacy Need
Growth-oriented motive

Interpersonal caring, warmth, and love

Need-Satisfying

Condition

Social acceptance, approval, and reassurance

Related ness within a warm, close, reciprocal, and enduring relationships

Conditions That Involve and Satisfy the Need for Power

Leadership Aggressiveness Influential occupations Prestige Possessions

Power and Goal Pursuit

Power increases approach tendencies. People high in the need for power more easily acquire the goals they seek.

Leadership Motive Pattern

High need for power Low Affiliation High Self-control