Achievement: Approach versus Avoidance Motivation

Transcription

1 LP 11E Achievement motivation 1 Achievement: Approach versus Avoidance Motivation Approach motivation: A motivation to experience positive outcomes Avoidance motivation: A motivation not to experience negative outcomes Photocopy Table 8.3 and complete the survey

2 LP 11E Achievement motivation 2

3 Achievement Goals and Motivation Need for Achievement: The motivation to solve worthwhile problems. LP 11E Achievement motivation 3 How do high need achievers and low need achievers differ? High-need achievers don t outperform low-need achievers when conditions are relaxed and tasks are easy outperform low-need achievers when the tasks are challenging or when the importance of doing well is stressed. persist longer after encountering difficulties than do low-need achievers. People who score high in achievement motivation expend their greatest efforts when faced with moderately challenging tasks. In striving to achieve the task, they often choose to work long hours and have the capacity to delay gratification and focus on the goal. They also tend to display original thinking, seek expert advice and value feedback about their performance. In general, high-need achievers are most likely to strive hard for success when They perceive themselves as personally responsible for the outcome They perceive some risk of not succeeding

4 LP 11E Achievement motivation 4 There is an opportunity to receive performance feedback. They tend to see failures as a learning experience rather than a threat (see reframing under Stress and Health).

5 LP 11E Achievement motivation 5 Development of Achievement Motivation Achievement Motivation: The desire to excel at some task. How does achievement motivation develop? Providing a cognitively stimulating home environment fosters children s intrinsic motivation (doing something for its own reason) to perform academic tasks. A stimulating environment is one that makes the child think, challenges the child, and is engaging. Just listening to Baby Einstein CDs may not help the child think, challenge them or engage them. As seen in Chapter 9 (Development: Erikson s Psychosocial Conflicts), find something the person finds interesting. This may require you to experiment with a lot of different tasks and provide guidance for that person to succeed. Praise of a learning process, hard work, diligence (you worked hard) versus praise of innate ability (you are smart). Caregivers that encourage and reward achievement, but don t punish failure help foster a strong motive for success (remember, punishments can increase anxiety). Fear of failure seems to develop when caregivers take success for granted and punish failure. Fear of failure keeps people from taking safe risks.

6 LP 11E Achievement motivation 6 High and Low Need Achievers and Task Selection When given a choice about performing a task that are Very easy Moderately difficult Very hard high probability of success unknown probability of success low probability of success High-need achievers prefer tasks that are moderately difficult because the outcome is not certain. It appears that high-need achievers can deal with uncertainty. o In a ring toss game, these people tended to pick a moderate distance from the pole. In contrast, low-need achievers are more likely to choose tasks where the outcome is most certain (very easy or very hard). o In a ring toss game, these people tended to pick a far or close distance from the pole.

7 LP 11E Achievement motivation 7 Motivations of High and Low Need Achievers High Need Achievers weak motive strong motive for success for success weak fear strong fear of failure of failure Approach motivation Avoidance motivation Low Need Achievers weak motive strong motive for success for success weak fear strong fear of failure of failure Approach motivation Avoidance motivation How Anxiety from Fear of Failure Influences Performance

8 LP 11E Achievement motivation 8 Achievement Goals for High and Low Need Achievers How do high and low need achievers differ in terms of their goal setting behavior? What motivates them? Mastery Goals The desire to master a task and learn new knowledge or skill. People are intrinsically motivated. I want to learn as much as possible from this class Performanceapproach Goals These goals reflect a competitive orientation that focuses on being judged favorably relative to other people. I am motivated by the thought of outperforming my peers in this class Performanceavoidance Goals These goals center on avoiding negative judgments. I just want to avoid doing poorly in this class High Need Achievers Low Need Achievers Researchers believe that students who adopt both mastery and performance-approach goals display the optimal pattern of motivation for college courses.

9 LP 11E Achievement motivation 9 Generally speaking, Mastery goals predicted the tendency to perceive exams as a positive challenge and rate them as more interesting and enjoyable. Mastery goals were unrelated to course grades. Performance-approach goals predicted grades, but did not predict enjoyment or interest. When it comes to exams, they are weakly associated with feelings of both challenge and a threat. Performance avoidance goals are associated with perceiving exams as anxiety-provoking threats. At the end of the term, they report that the course was less interesting, enjoyable and had lower grades compared to those who did not endorse performance avoidance goals.

10 LP 11E Achievement motivation 10 Application: Turning Your Goals into Reality Self-efficacy The expectation that your efforts will lead to success (page 429). Self-Efficacy: Optimistic beliefs about your capabilities If you have an optimistic sense of self-efficacy, you will approach a difficult task as a challenge to be mastered. However, this sense of self-efficacy needs to be realistic. To strengthen your sense of self-efficacy, you need to experience success as moderately challenging tasks. In these tasks, you should Strive for progressive (gradual) improvement rather than perfection on the first attempt [Perfection is a road, not a destination] Understand that setbacks serve a useful purpose in teaching us that success requires sustained effort (because we tend to hear about a person s success story, but not the failures, we overestimate the likelihood of success-- heuristic) If you only experience easy successes, you are more likely to become discouraged and abandon efforts when you experience failures.

11 LP 11E Achievement motivation 11 Application: Turning Your Goals into Reality Implementation Intention: Turning Goals into Actions Step 1: Form a goal intention Describe a behavior Express your goal intention as something you will do, not something you will not do Good goal intention I will wake up at 6:00 am for class Poor goal intention I won t sleep through my 8:00 am class. Express your general intention into a specific, concrete and binding goal that can be assessed I intend to achieve Good goal intention I will study 2 hours a day Poor goal intention I will study more Set challenging, but realistic goals Set short-term as well as long-term goals Set a definite time span for achievement Step 2: Create implementation intention how will you accomplish your behavior? Make a specific plan for turning your goals into reality. Specify where, when and how you will carry out the intended behavior. I will wake up at 6:00 am on TuTh and take a shower at 6:05 I will study 2 hours a day between 6:00 and 8:00 pm at the library while taking notes and outlining the chapter

12 Mentally rehearsal: Visualize the Process LP 11E Achievement motivation 12

13 LP 11E Achievement motivation 13 Your task: 1. Identify a behavior you wish to change. What do you want? 2. Describe a GOOD specific goal intention or behavior. 3. Describe the same goal intention in a POOR manner. How are you going to achieve it (what is the plan)? 4. Describe a GOOD implementation intention. 5. Describe the same implementation intention in a POOR manner.

14 LP 11E Achievement motivation I wish to have a healthier lifestyle Goal Intention Good I want to walk 30 minutes a day I will eat more fruits and vegetables Poor I want to exercise more I want to avoid fast food Implementation Intention I want to walk 30 minutes a day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after dinner I will buy a sprig of broccoli, bananas and carrots when I go to the store to eat for dinner I want to exercise more during the week I will eat healthier food