Validity of a short form of the Achievement-Motive Grid (AMG-S): evidence for the three-factor structure emphasizing active and passive forms of fear of failure

My primary objective in this research was to examine diverse validity aspects of a short form of the Achievement-Motive Grid (AMG-S; Schmalt, 1999). The AMG is a picture-based measure that combines features of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943) with features of self-report questionnaires. Similar to the TAT, the motive gets aroused by presenting a set of pictured achievement situations. Similar to a questionnaire, the motive is measured with a set of statements representing characteristic components of the achievement motive. Quite in line with the original version, factor analyses of the AMG-S all recommend the adoption of a 3-factor solution in which 1 hope-of-success (HS) and 2 fear-of-failure (FF) concepts are differentiated. The HS and passive FF factor (FFp) are based on positive and negative efficacy evaluations, respectively. The active FF factor (FFa) describes anticipations of impending failure. FFp is clearly a "withdrawal" factor, whereas FFa is clearly an "invigoration" factor. In the construct validity section of this research, I focus on classical and recent elaborations of approach and avoidance motivation in which I show that HS, FFp, and FFa play a substantial role in a motive-goals-outcomes framework of achievement motivation.     

Task Enjoyment: A Mediator Between Achievement Motives and Performance

Task enjoyment is an important component in social cognitive theories of achievement motivation and intrinsic motivation. Combining these theories with the classic achievement-motivation theory we predicted that task enjoyment and its facilitating behavioral manifestations are associated with an approach-oriented achievement motive and only when individuals anticipate forthcoming competence feedback. In the present study we regarded task enjoyment as a mediator between the achievement motive and performance. First, a two-way ANOVA design was adopted. Success-motivated individuals performed better in a reaction task than failure-motivated individuals, and they reported more task enjoyment during performance. This relationship was not dependent on whether competence information had been announced or not. Second, path analyses showed as expected that the relationship between achievement motivation and performance was mediated by task enjoyment. This mediation was observed only under the condition that individuals expected competence feedback. These results were discussed considering current theories of achievement motivation and intrinsic motivation. It is shown that the findings enrich the related nomological networks in some important ways.     

Predicting Quality of Life After Lumbar Spondylodesis

Quality of life after spondylodesis was predicted by pretreatment psychological variables and findings in a standardized physical examination. Four quality-of-life criteria were used: functional capacity, vocational rehabilitation, satisfaction with the outcome of the operation, and pain intensity recorded in a pain diary. Those of six presurgery variables that proved to be associated with the outcome 9 months postsurgery, by means of a multiple stepwise regression procedure, were selected for discriminant analyses. The sample consisted of 50 consecutive patients who underwent either ventral (n = 10) or posterolateral (n = 40) spondylodesis with or without posterior instrumentation. Their average age was 44.9 years (SD = 12.9) with an average duration of pain of 8.6 years (SD = 8.8). Nearly half of the patients had had previous spine surgery. Follow-up data indicate that about half of the patients show a beneficial outcome in terms of quality-of-life measures. Discriminant analyses suggest that poor presurgical functional capacity and an unclear finding in the physical examination before surgery contribute to our knowledge about patients who are likely to show continuous pain and poor functional capacity after surgery.     

Follow-up results of a cognitive-behavioural treatment for chronic pain in a primary care setting

Abstract

An outpatient cognitive-behavioural treatment programme for pain control was administered to chronic pain patients in three primary care practices with a medical psychologist as a group therapist. The patients suffered from headaches, migraines, cervical pain, shoulder-arm pain, and low back pain. A matched sample of patients with the same disorders served as a waiting-list control group. The programme consisted of training in progressive muscle relaxation, several attention related techniques, and cognitive restructuring as well as reinforcing non-pain behaviour, and aimed at an improvement of self-control strategies. At the six month follow-up, the treated subjects showed improvements in their average scores of anxiety, depression and bodily symptoms compared with the untreated controls. Pain intensity was reduced by 34% in those subjects (9 out of 25) who were most adherent to the treatment regimen. Our results indicate a long-term improvement in well-being as a consequence of the treatment. This was confirmed by the ratings of the physicians and by the reduced number of patient-physician contacts three months post treatment as compared to the controls. Treatment adherence seems to be a most important agent in maintaining long-term reductions of pain intensity.