Humanitarian intervention and the internal legitimacy problem1

This article argues for the need to set priorities to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It proposes to assign primary focus on goals that, along with being ends in themselves, operate also as means for achieving other objectives – and are therefore of instrumental value also. Education is briefly analyzed as an example of one such goal. In addition, this article addresses population growth, an issue that is not explicitly mentioned in the SDGs but that is arguably relevant for sustainable development. Here too, it is suggested that education can play an important role.     

Comparing dichotomous and trichotomous approaches to achievement goal theory: An example using motivational regulations as outcome variables

Background. It is commonly assumed that there is conceptual equivalence between the task and ego achievement goals proposed by Nicholl's (1989) dichotomous achievement goal theory ( Nicholls, 1989 ), and the mastery and performance approach goals advanced by Elliot's (1997) trichotomous hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Aims. Our study examined whether this conceptual equivalence is reflected in measurement equivalence by examining the factorial structure and predictive validity of two established questionnaires that assess achievement goals based on Nicholl's and Elliot's approaches to achievement motivation. Sample. Greek adolescents (N=336, M age=13.45 years, SD=1.04). Measures. The participants completed the Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire ( Duda & Nicholls, 1992 ), the Approach – Avoidance Achievement Goals Questionnaire ( Elliot & Church, 1997 ) and a Physical Education (PE) version of the Self‐Regulation Questionnaire ( Goudas, Biddle, & Fox, 1994 ). Results. Confirmatory factor analyses of a number of competing models showed that a model with five correlated independent factors had the best fit. This finding suggests that the goals measured by the two achievement goal questionnaires are related, although independent constructs. However, hierarchical regression analyses predicting regulatory styles in PE showed quite a substantial overlap between the mastery and performance approach goals proposed by Elliot (1997) , and the task and ego goals, respectively, advanced by Nicholls (1989) . Conclusions. Taken together, our results indicate that the self‐referenced and comparative 1 goals of the TEOSQ and AAGQ are substantially related, to the extent that they have minimal unique predictive validity; however, they are not identical constructs.     

Study strategies and beliefs about learning as a function of academic achievement and achievement goals

Prior research by Hartwig and Dunlosky [(2012). Study strategies of college students: Are self-testing and scheduling related to achievement? Psychonomic Bulletin &; Review, 19(1), 126–134] has demonstrated that beliefs about learning and study strategies endorsed by students are related to academic achievement: higher performing students tend to choose more effective study strategies and are more aware of the benefits of self-testing. We examined whether students’ achievement goals, independent of academic achievement, predicted beliefs about learning and endorsement of study strategies. We administered Hartwig and Dunlosky’s survey, along with the Achievement Goals Questionnaire [Elliot, A. J., &; McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2 × 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality &; Social Psychology, 80, 501–519] to a large undergraduate biology course. Similar to results by Hartwig and Dunlosky, we found that high-performing students (relative to low-performing students) were more likely to endorse self-testing, less likely to cram, and more likely to plan a study schedule ahead of time. Independent of achievement, however, achievement goals were stronger predictors of certain study behaviours. In particular, avoidance goals (e.g., fear of failure) coincided with increased use of cramming and the tendency to be driven by impending deadlines. Results suggest that individual differences in student achievement, as well as the underlying reasons for achievement, are important predictors of students’ approaches to studying.     

Introduction: The 2030 Agenda

This introduction notes the contributions of authors to the second (final) issue of the Journal of Global Ethics 2015 Sustainable Development Goals Forum. It briefly explains the process through which the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have developed from their receipt in 2014 to their passage in September 2015 by the UN General Assembly, and it considers their development in prospect. The Millennium Development Goals, which spanned 1990–2015, present a case study that reveals the changeability of such long-term multilateral commitments. They were enmeshed in overlapping and inconsistent national and intergovernmental commitments reaching from 1995 to 2005, and the text of those goals also evolved, stabilizing for the last time in 2007. The SDGs and attendant commitments should be expected to evolve similarly over their 15-year run. This presents a concern, for among the three committees established by the UN to create the goals, the two committees charged with public consultation were retired as planned in 2014. The process evident thereafter has displayed a shift towards a strategy of enrolling broad public endorsement that leaves such consultation and specific responsibility to those consulted in doubt. This bodes ill for public deliberation on the goals and for public accountability as the agenda proceeds towards 2030.     

Sociocultural antecedents of academic motivation and achievement: Role of values and achievement motives in achievement goals and academic performance

With a view to understand the influence of culture on achievement motivation, the study aimed to test the hypothesized mediating role of individual‐oriented and social‐oriented achievement motives in linking value orientations (e.g. achievement, security, conformity, hedonism) to achievement goals (i.e. mastery‐approach, mastery‐avoidance, performance‐approach, and performance‐avoidance goals) as predictors of English and mathematics achievements. These hypothesized relationships were tested in the one‐path analytic model with a sample of Indonesian high‐school students (n = 356; 46% girls, M age = 16.20 years). The findings showed that security and conformity values positively predicted social‐oriented achievement motive; self‐direction values positively predicted individual‐oriented achievement motive; and hedonism values negatively predicted both achievement motive orientations. Both individual‐oriented and social‐oriented achievement motives positively predicted mastery‐approach and performance‐approach goals. Interestingly, social‐oriented achievement motive also positively predicted mastery‐avoidance and performance‐avoidance goals, which in turn, negatively predicted English and mathematic achievement. There was also some evidence for the direct effects of values on performance‐approach goals and achievement. Taken together, the findings evinced the relevance of achievement goal constructs to Indonesian students and the psychometric properties of the Indonesian version of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire for further use in Indonesia. The study concludes that the meanings of academic motivation and achievement should be seen from a sociocultural perspective relevant to the context in which they are being studied.     

Post 2015: a new era of accountability?

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were criticised for failing to address the issue of governance, and the associated notions of responsibility and accountability. The Sustainable Development Goals, we argue, need to recognise the structural constraints facing poor countries – the power imbalances in the global economic system that limit their ability to promote the prosperity and well-being of their people, as was clearly brought out by the Commission on Global Governance for Health, of which we were both members [Ottersen, O. P., J. Dasgupta, C. Blouin, Paulo Buss, Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong, Julio Frenk, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, et al. 2014. “The Political Origins of Health Inequality: Prospects for Change.” Lancet 383: 630–667]. This article is divided into three parts. We begin by making the case for a global justice perspective which emphasises the responsibility – and hence also accountability – of international organisations and rule-making bodies. We next demonstrate the limitations of accountability mechanisms of the type adopted in the MDGs. We conclude by arguing for a new approach to accountability that may be better suited to the post-2015 era.     

Why Citizen Kane was unhappy: Motive‐Goal Incongruence

Why do some people benefit more from successfully pursuing their goals than others? Motivational psychology has recently come up with an answer to this question: People differ in the extent to which their goals are aligned with their implicit motives. That is, on a conscious level, people may strive for, for example, achievement goals although on an unconscious level their implicit achievement motive is low. In such a case of motive–goal incongruence, pursuit and realization of achievement goals are associated with little or no well‐being. On the other hand, for people whose conscious goals and implicit motives are congruent, goal progress is strongly associated with well‐being. Legendary movie character Charles Foster Kane from Citizen Kane illustrates this dilemma: Constantly pursuing and realizing power goals, he does not succeed in satisfying his affiliation‐intimacy motive – and finally dies an unhappy man. The present article reviews what is known about the causes and effects of motive–goal congruence. In doing so, open questions are raised that future research ought to address.     

Exploring goal taxonomies using the goal-based outcome tool in children and young people's mental health settings

Formulating goals in therapy may facilitate young people and parents/carers' engagement in mental health support settings. A number of goal taxonomies have been developed, which involve organising goals set at the outset of therapy into themes. Goal taxonomies are considered useful for service planning and outcome purposes. In order to build on the knowledge about what young people choose as goals, and to best support good practice, it is important to explore the links and differences between the existing goal taxonomies. A systematic review was conducted to identify goal taxonomies based on goals set using the goal-based outcome (GBO) tool. Framework analysis was conducted to investigate the extracted goal taxonomies. Overall, four core concepts were identified: “Goals targeting specific issues, symptoms, emotions, and behaviours,” “Return and engage in activities,” “Personal growth goals” and “Interpersonal goals.” Goals regarding specific issues, personal growth and interpersonal relationships were present in most studies. Using these overarching core concepts could be useful for practitioner-level, or service-level organisation of goal data, for activities such as service planning and delivery.     

INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION, INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, GOAL DIFFICULTY, GOAL ACCEPTANCE, GOAL INSTRUMENTALITY, AND PERFORMANCE

A field study was conducted with 41 female typists in a large corporation to test an explanatory model of goal setting. Weekly productivity goals were either assigned by the supervisors or were set jointly with a typist. Goals were set for ten consecutive weeks. A correlational analysis of the data indicated that difficult goals led to higher performance. Higher performance led to higher absolute goals for the subsequent week, but smaller improvement goals. Persons with a high need for achievement and an internal control orientation set higher goals. Goal setting led to greater overall performance improvement for employees who had high self esteem or who perceived goal attainment to be instrumental for getting extrinsic rewards. Hypothesized relationships involving goal acceptance were not supported, which may have been due to a lack of validity for the goal acceptance measure.     

Prospective teachers’ beliefs about students’ goal orientations: A carry-over effect of prior schooling experiences?

This study examined the relationship between prospective teachers’ (N = 166) retrospective perceptions of their own past achievement goals and their current beliefs about students’ goal orientations and achievement behaviors. Results of hierarchical regression analysis provide correlation evidence in support of a “carry-over effect” of prospective teachers’ past goal orientations on their current beliefs about students. Specifically, prospective teachers’ were found to believe that their future students will pursue goal orientations analogous to their own past goal orientations. In addition, prospective teachers’ explanations for why students might engage in or avoid achievement-directed behaviors were examined. Regardless of past goal orientation, “internal motives” (e.g., improvement and self-satisfaction) represented the most frequent explanation offered by prospective teachers for why students engage in achievement behaviors. Prospective teachers with past performance-approach goals were significantly more likely to view avoidance as a sign of “laziness,” whereas those with past performance-avoidant goals were more likely to view avoidance as resulting from a “lack of confidence and support.” Implications for subsequent research are discussed.     

Studying the Motivated Agent Through Time: Personal Goal Development During the Adult Life Span

This research examined the rank‐order and mean‐level consistency of personal goals at two periods in the adult life span. Personal goal continuity was considered among a group of young adults (N = 145) who reported their goals three times over a 3‐year period and among a group of midlife adults (N = 163) who specified their goals annually over a 4‐year period. Goals were coded for a series of motive‐based (viz., achievement, affiliation, intimacy, power) and domain‐based (viz., finance, generativity, health, travel) categories. In both samples, we noted a moderate degree of rank‐order consistency across assessment periods. In addition, the majority of goal categories exhibited a high degree of mean‐level consistency. The results of this research suggest that (a) the content of goals exhibits a modest degree of rank‐order consistency and a substantial degree of mean‐level consistency over time, and (b) considering personality continuity and development as manifest via goals represents a viable strategy for personality psychologists.     

Cognitive processes in university learning: A developmental framework using structural equation modelling

Background. Both achievement goals and study processing strategies theories have been shown to contribute to the prediction of students’ academic performance. Existing research studies ( Fenollar, Román, & Cuestas, 2007 ; Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008 ; Simons, Dewitte, & Lens, 2004 ) amalgamating these two theoretical orientations in different causal models have reported their associations with other adaptive strategies and motivational constructs – for example, effort expenditure. Despite this recognition, there have been to date very few studies that explored the relations between achievement goals, study processing strategies, effort, and academic performance over time. Aim of study. The primary focus of our study is to explore the relations between the aforementioned theoretical constructs over a 2‐year period. Specifically, we tested an empirical model that conceptualized the relations between performance‐approach and mastery goals, deep processing strategies, effort, and academic performance across six time points of data collection. Methodology. Two hundred and eighty‐one (161 females, 120 males) university students took part in this study. The participants were administered various Likert‐scale inventories and the overall course mark and final examination were used as indexes of academic performance. Results. Structural equation modelling indicated a relatively good fit to the a posteriori model and the hypothesized paths were, in part, supported. The major findings included the predictive effects of performance‐approach goals at Time 1 on deep processing strategies at Time 2 and mastery goals at Time 3; the predictive effect of mastery goals at Time 3 on effort at Time 4; the predictive effects of deep processing at Time 2 on mastery goals at Time 3 and Time 4. Furthermore, the placement of deep processing and effort in this structural model also accentuated the performance‐approach goals – mastery goals – effort – academic performance relation, and the performance‐approach goals – deep processing – mastery goals – effort – academic performance relation. Discussion. Our study has important theoretical and practical implications concerning the conceptualization of the performance‐approach and mastery goals relationship, and the use of goal structure and adaptive strategies (e.g., deep processing) to enhance academic learning.     

Does priming for mastery goals improve the performance of students with an entity view of ability?

Background. There is evidence that an entity view of ability (where ability is viewed as a fixed entity that cannot be changed) is linked with social comparison goals and poor performance. On the other hand, an incremental view of ability (where ability is viewed as an acquirable skill) is linked with a mastery goal orientation and positive achievement outcomes. On these bases, the present study sought evidence that priming students with an entity view of ability to pursue mastery goals would result in improved performance. Sample. Participants were 48 students with an entity view of ability, and 48 students with an incremental view of ability. Method. We used a 2 (views of ability: entity, incremental)×2 (performance feedback: success, failure)×2 (goal priming: mastery, social comparison) between‐subjects factorial design to examine the effects of goal priming on performance for students with either an incremental or entity view of ability following either success or failure feedback. Prior to, and following, performance feedback, participants completed parallel measures of state anxiety. Participants were then primed for either social comparison goals prior to attempting to solve 16 Unicursal (tracing puzzle) tasks. Their performance on a subsequent set of Unicursal tasks was then examined. Finally participants completed a State Goals Scale assessing their degree of endorsement of social comparison/mastery goals whilst working on the Unicursal tasks. Results. The performance of students with an incremental view of ability was comparable irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success and failure feedback and irrespective of whether they were primed for mastery or social comparison goals. However the performance of students with an entity view of ability improved when they were primed for mastery relative to social comparison goals irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success or failure. Conclusions. These findings confirm the performance‐limiting consequences of social comparison goals for participants with an entity view of ability, suggesting benefits in encouraging these students to pursue mastery goals.     

How to get radical creative ideas into a leader’s mind? Leader’s achievement goals and subordinates’ voice of creative ideas

In the present research we investigated when and why leaders tend to oppose or adopt radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates. In a field study (Study 1, N = 127) we showed that leaders’ performance goals were positively related to their tendency to oppose radical creative ideas, whereas leaders’ mastery goals were positively related to their tendency to adopt them. We replicated these findings in an experimental study (Study 2, N = 90), in which we showed that performance goal leaders were more likely to oppose radical creative ideas voiced by their subordinates than mastery goal leaders, whereas mastery goal leaders were more likely to adopt those ideas than performance goal leaders. In Study 2, we further showed that the effects of leaders’ achievement goals on their oppose and adopt responses were mediated by the leaders’ interest in exploration. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 91), we experimentally demonstrated that oppose and adopt responses of performance goal leaders, rather than mastery goal leaders, were sensitive to the behavioural mode by which subordinates voiced their radical creative ideas. That is, performance goal leaders were less likely to oppose and more likely to adopt radical creative ideas when subordinates voiced them in a considerate mode rather than an aggressive mode.     

On the structure of global development goals

The design of global development goals has been beset by deep flaws, inconsistencies, and manifest unfairness to some developing countries. Momentum has now peaked for the creation of Sustainable Development Goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals. This comment addresses three challenges that arise in setting development goals, and recommends feasible development goals that can meaningfully guide development cooperation, and focus the attention of policy makers on the worst-off.     

Images and goals

We propose that mental images are derived from goals. Goals are represented in a complex hierarchy and form a major part of the “working self”. Images reflect the existence of specific goals and also act to maintain goals by facilitating the derivation of beliefs from the content of an image. Images in psychopathology may reflect the operation of dysfunctional goals: goals that are unconstrained and which increase discrepancy (experienced as anxiety) within the goal system. Another feature of the goal system is that it is conservative and avoids change. By this view some aspects of distortions in intrusive images of traumatic experiences might be viewed as a defence against goal change. Conversely generating new images might lead to the formation of new goals. These ideas are applied to the findings of the papers in this special issue of Memory and to several new case studies.     

Mediation models of implicit theories and achievement goals predict planning and withdrawal after failure

Dweck posits that implicit theories of intelligence provide a meaning system that organizes goal-based patterns of response in achievement situations. Goals of increasing competence or demonstrating competence provide purposes for engaging in achievement tasks and frameworks for interpreting and responding to outcomes. Despite suggestions that within an implicit theory framework, attributions and emotions should mediate associations between goals and post-failure responses, such models have rarely been explicitly tested. We obtained questionnaire data from college students (N = 261) on implicit theories, goals, and attributions, as well as emotions and behavior after a hypothetical failure. Path analysis showed that learning goal and effort attribution mediated the association between incremental theory and post-failure intention to plan remedial action. Theory-consistent indirect effects that predicted intention to withdraw were also identified. Findings provide support for Dweck’s theory and extend our understanding of the roles of goals, attributions, and emotions in explaining responses to achievement setbacks.     

The Sustainable Development Goals: a plan for building a better world?

Despite some clear positives, the draft text of the Sustainable Development Goals does not fulfill its self-proclaimed purpose of inspiring and guiding a concerted international effort to eradicate severe poverty everywhere in all of its forms. We offer some critical comments on the proposed agreement and suggest 10 ways to embolden the goals and amplify their appeal and moral power. While it may well be true that the world's poor are better off today than their predecessors were decades or centuries ago, to judge whether this is moral progress, we must bring into view what was possible then and what is possible now. We may well find that there have never been so many people avoidably subjected to life-threatening deprivations as there are today, and if this is the case, we should insist that our governments end this oppression immediately through appropriate institutional reforms to be prominently outlined in their post-2015 agenda.