Physiological markers of challenge and threat mediate the effects of performance-based goals on performance

We predicted that adopting a performance-approach vs. performance-avoidance goal would lead to physiological responses characteristic of psychological states of challenge vs. threat appraisals, respectively. Furthermore, we predicted that these states would mediate the effects of goals on performance. Twenty-seven undergraduate females performed a task described as identifying either exceptionally strong performers (performance-approach goal) or exceptionally weak performers (performance-avoidance goal). Participants’ cardiovascular reactivity (CVR) was recorded while they performed the task. As predicted, participants in the performance-approach goal condition performed better on the task than did those in the performance-avoidance goal condition. Also as predicted, those in the former condition exhibited a challenge pattern of CVR whereas those in the latter condition exhibited a threat pattern of CVR. Furthermore, physiological responses mediated the effects of performance-based goals on performance.     

Self-Handicapping Related to Task and Performance-Approach and Avoidance Goals in Physical Education

This study examined the relationships between achievement goals (task, performance-approach, performance-avoid) and self-handicapping in the area of secondary school physical education. The sample consisted of 273 ninth grade students (125 male, 148 female). Regression analysis revealed that a task goal and a performance-approach goal were negatively related to self-handicapping, whereas a performance-avoidance goal related positively to self-handicapping. Altogether, 14% of the variance in self-handicapping was explained by the three achievement goals. Analyses of covariance further revealed that a task goal influenced the way performance-approach and performance-avoidance goal related to self-handicapping. Specifically, to some extent a high task goal seems to moderate the aversive effects on self-handicapping of holding either a performance-approach goal or a performance-avoidance goal. Taken together, analyses indicate that, a performance-avoidance goal more strongly deserve being labeled the motivationally “bad guy” in terms of generating self-handicapping. In terms of self-handicapping a performance-approach goal, in contrast, seems more readily characterized as a motivationally double-edged sword.     

The effect of achievement goals on enjoyment, effort, satisfaction and performance

This study examined the effect of achievement goals and achievement emotions on sport satisfaction, performance and effort among competitive athletes. Participants were 200 athletes. Structural equation modeling was used to test the indirect effect of mastery-approach goals on satisfaction with sport experience and performance, the direct effect of mastery-approach goals on enjoyment and effort, the direct effect of performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals on performance, and the direct effect of mastery-avoidance goals on effort. Results showed a positive direct effect of mastery-approach goals on enjoyment and an indirect effect, through enjoyment, on satisfaction, performance, and effort. We did not find support for the hypothesized effect of performance-approach or performance-avoidance goals on performance. The applied implications of endorsing mastery-approach goals are discussed.     

Trichotomous goals of elementary school students learning English as a foreign language: a structural equation model

This study applied structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques to define the relations among trichotomous goals (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals), self-efficacy, use of metacognitive self-regulation strategies, positive belief in seeking help, and help-avoidance behavior. Elementary school students (N = 105), who were learning English as a foreign language, were surveyed using five self-report scales. The structural equation model showed that self-efficacy led to the adoption of mastery goals but discouraged the adoption of performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals. Furthermore, mastery goals increased the use of metacognitive self-regulation strategies, whereas performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals reduced their use. Mastery goals encouraged positive belief in help-seeking, but performance-avoidance goals decreased such belief. Finally, performance-avoidance goals directly led to help-avoidance behavior, whereas positive belief assumed a critical role in reducing help-avoidance. The established structural equation model illuminated the potential causal relations among these variables for the young learners in this study.     

Changes in achievement goals and competence perceptions across the college semester

We investigated the relationship between changes in perceptions of competence and changes in achievement goals across a college semester for students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Two types of competence perceptions were examined: self-efficacy for learning and normative perceived ability. Changes in normative perceived ability were predicted to relate to changes in performance goals, but not mastery goals. Because mastery goals rely on self-referent standards to evaluate ability, we predicted changes in self-efficacy for learning would relate to changes in mastery goals. We also expected changes in self-efficacy for learning to relate to changes in performance goals because learning can lead to the demonstration of superior competence. The predictions were supported for mastery and performance-approach goals, but not for performance-avoidance goals. Very little change in performance-avoidance goals was observed. Scores on the first course exam also predicted change in performance-approach goals, with this effect partially mediated by competence perceptions.     

Longitudinal tests on the influence of achievement goals on effort and intrinsic interest in the workplace

This study investigates whether four types of achievement goals—mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance—influence effort and intrinsic interest at work. Cross-lagged panel analyses were applied to data from a two-wave survey conducted on 57 newly hired Japanese police officers. The results showed that performance-approach goals had significant positive influences on effort and intrinsic interest. In contrast, performance-avoidance goals had significant negative impacts on the abovementioned two outcome variables. Longitudinal effects were observed when the influence of competence expectancy was controlled. These results highlight the benefits of performance-approach goals and the costs associated with performance-avoidance goals in the workplace.     

Self-handicapping: The interplay between self-set and assigned achievement goals

This study examined the combined impact of self-set goals and manipulated goal contexts on self-handicapping to better understand how self-set goals affect responses to different performance-oriented achievement contexts. Participants reported their self-set goals and later completed an achievement task in a goal-context condition (performance-approach, performance-avoidance, no-goal). Before the task, participants had the opportunity to self-handicap (behaviorally and claimed). The results showed that self-set performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals positively predicted behavioral self-handicapping, but only in a performance-avoidance context. Additionally, self-set mastery-avoidance goals were found to predict claimed self-handicapping, regardless of the context condition. These results show that self-set achievement goals shape individuals behaviors associated with threat and promise in achievement situations.     

Perfectionism and achievement goals in athletes: Relations with approach and avoidance orientations in mastery and performance goals

ObjectivesChallenging views that perfectionism is a maladaptive factor in sport and that it is related to a preoccupation with performance goals and a neglect of mastery goals, the present article argues that perfectionism in athletes is not generally maladaptive, but shows differential relationships with mastery and performance goals depending on which facets of perfectionism are regarded.MethodGoing beyond the dichotomous achievement goal framework, two studies with N=204 high school athletes and N=147 university student are presented investigating how two facets of perfectionism—striving for perfection and negative reactions to imperfection [Stoeber, J., Otto, K., Pescheck, E., Becker, C., & Stoll, O. (2007). Perfectionism and competitive anxiety in athletes: Differentiating striving for perfection and negative reactions to imperfection. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 959–969.]—relate to athletes’ achievement goals.DesignStudy 1 employed a cross-sectional correlational design, Study 2 a longitudinal correlational design.ResultsFollowing the trichotomous achievement goal framework, Study 1 found striving for perfection to be positively related to mastery and performance-approach goals, whereas negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals and inversely to mastery goals. Following the 2×2 framework, Study 2 found striving for perfection to be positively related to mastery-approach and performance-approach goals whereas negative reactions to imperfection were positively related to mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Moreover, negative reactions to imperfection predicted residual increases in mastery-avoidance goals over 3 months.ConclusionsIt is concluded that striving for perfection in athletes is associated with an adaptive pattern of achievement goals whereas negative reactions to imperfection are associated with a maladaptive pattern. Thus, striving for perfection in sport may be adaptive in athletes who do not experience strong negative reactions when performance is less than perfect.     

A 2 X 2 achievement goal framework

A 2 x 2 achievement goal framework comprising mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals was proposed and tested in 3 studies. Factor analytic results supported the independence of the 4 achievement goal constructs. The goals were examined with respect to several important antecedents (e.g., motive dispositions, implicit theories, socialization histories) and consequences (e.g., anticipatory test anxiety, exam performance, health center visits), with particular attention allocated to the new mastery-avoidance goal construct. The results revealed distinct empirical profiles for each of the achievement goals; the pattern for mastery-avoidance goals was, as anticipated, more negative than that for mastery-approach goals and more positive than that for performance-avoidance goals. Implications of the present work for future theoretical development in the achievement goal literature are discussed.     

A model for achievement motives, goal orientations, intrinsic interest, and academic achievement

This study investigated the effects of approach and avoidance achievement motives (the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure) on three goal orientations (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance goals) and the effects of goal orientations on intrinsic interest in learning and academic achievement for 157 tenth and 135 eleventh grade students of a Japanese girls' high school. Structural equation modeling indicated that mastery goals arose mainly from the motive to achieve success; however, the positive relation between the motive to avoid failure and mastery goals was also found. Performance-approach goals were related both the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure. Performance-avoidance goals arouse mainly from the motive to avoid failure; however, the positive relation between the motive to achieve success and these goals was found. Mastery goals positively correlated with intrinsic interest and academic achievement, and scores on both performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals had no significant effects on either intrinsic or academic achievement.     

Goal orientation, task difficulty, and task interest: A multilevel analysis

We studied whether goal orientation affects the relationships that task difficulty and interest have with self-set goals. Using a sample of 499 undergraduate students who listed grade goals for their classes, we employed Hierarchical Linear Modeling to explain differences in the extent to which difficulty and interest related to goals. Higher goals were set for more interesting and easier classes, and for individuals higher in mastery goal orientation and for those lower in performance-avoidance orientation (at average levels of interest and difficulty). Furthermore, performance-approach and performance-avoidance orientations reduced and strengthened (respectively) the effects of task difficulty on self-set goals, and the buffering effect of mastery orientation was marginally significant. Portions of this paper were presented at the 19^th Annual Conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Chicago, IL, in April 2004.     

Motivation et métacognition : les buts de compétence prédisent les processus métacognitifs en résolution de problèmes mathématiques

This study analyzes the effects of achievement goals on the metacognitive processes as 200 students solve two mathematical problems differing in complexity. Results show that the diverse achievement goals have significant effects both on metacognitive experiences and on metacognitive strategies, coherently across the two problems. Mastery-approach goals predict the feeling of liking the task, mastery-avoidance goals have an effect on the use of metacognitive strategies, whereas neither performance-approach nor performance-avoidance goals are significantly related to metacognitive processes. The results offer a rich picture of the interactions between goals and metacognitive processes, revealing the major role of mastery-avoidance goals.     

家长投入对子女成就目标的影响:教养风格的调节作用

本研究通过调查2038名中小学生,考察不同方面的家长投入(学业社会化、基于家庭的投入、基于学校的投入)与子女成就目标的关系,以及教养风格(自主支持/控制)在其中的调节作用。结果表明,学业社会化正向预测三种成就目标,基于家庭的投入正向预测成绩回避目标,基于学校的投入正向预测掌握目标;自主支持的教养风格增强了家长投入与掌握目标的关系,控制的教养风格增强了家长投入与成绩目标的关系;结果存在一定的年龄差异。     

The trichotomous achievement goal model and intrinsic motivation: a sequential mediational analysis

This experiment was designed to extend the research by Elliot and Harackiewicz (1996) on the trichotomous achievement goal model in several important ways and to more thoroughly document the processes through which the goals in the trichotomous model influence intrinsic motivation. Results indicated that performance-avoidance goals undermined intrinsic motivation relative to performance-approach and mastery goals; the latter goals evidenced the same intrinsic motivation. These results were obtained using highly evaluative performance goal manipulations, with early adolescent participants, and for a motor task relevant to physical ability. Sequential mediational analyses revealed that competence valuation, state anxiety, and task absorption processes accounted for the observed effects. Perceived competence served neither mediating nor moderating roles.     

Achievement goals, task performance, and interest: why perceived goal difficulty matters

In field studies, mastery goals, which focus on developing skill, often predict task interest but not actual performance. Performance-approach goals, which focus on outperforming others, instead often predict strong performance but not interest. Two experiments tested the hypothesis that these distinct goal effects trace to goal difficulty perceptions. In each study, participants assigned to a performance-approach goal perceived their goal to be harder, and therefore felt more performance pressure, than those assigned to a mastery goal. Among participants low in dispositional achievement orientation, this experience translated into lower task interest when pursuing the performance-approach goal. However, participants in both studies also performed the activity better when pursuing this goal instead of a standard mastery goal, although this was not mediated by self-reported goal difficulty perceptions. Finally, further demonstrating the role of goal difficulty, a mastery goal manipulated to appear more difficult than a standard mastery goal produced effects matching the performance-approach goal.     

成败情境下不同成就目标取向学生业绩表现的差异

以五、六年级小学生为被试,在设置成功与失败的情境下,考察不同成就目标取向学生业绩表现的差异。结果发现:(1)在两种情境下,掌握目标取向的学生有最高的业绩表现,失败情境下的业绩表现高于成功情境;(2)成绩接近目标取向的学生,在失败情境下的业绩表现与成功情境无显著差异,在成功情境下的业绩表现略高于成绩回避目标取向的学生,失败情境下的业绩表现高于成绩回避目标取向的学生。(3)成绩回避目标取向的学生在失败情境下的业绩表现显著低于成功情境。     

Mathematics anxiety and coping strategies among middle school students: relations with students’ achievement goal orientations and level of performance

The purpose of this study was to explore relations between students’ prior grades in mathematics, achievement goal orientations in math classes, math anxiety, and students coping strategies in math classes. Three achievement goal orientations (mastery goals, performance-approach goals, and performance-avoidance goals) and two coping strategies (problem-focused and self-protective strategies) were explored. Participants in the study were 939 middle school students. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. Data were analyzed by means of zero order correlations and structural equation modeling. The correlations between the three goal perspectives and between the two coping strategies were low. A mastery goal perspective strongly predicted the use of adaptive problem-focused coping strategies whereas this perspective predicted lower levels of math anxiety and less use of maladaptive self-protective coping strategies. A performance-avoidance goal perspective predicted higher math anxiety and more use of self-protective coping strategies. Performance-approach goals were not significantly related to math anxiety or to selfprotective coping strategies. However, they were weakly and negatively associated with problem-focused coping strategies. Prior math grades were positively associated with mastery goals and performance-approach goals and negatively associated with performance-avoidance goals and math anxiety. No direct associations were found between grades and the coping strategies. The associations were indirect, mediated through mastery goals, performance-avoidance goals, and math anxiety.     

Self-improvement and cooperation: How exchange relationships promote mastery-approach driven individuals' job outcomes

In the present research we argue that mastery-approach goals may be beneficial in social achievement contexts because these goals lead to constructive exchange relationship building. An examination of three methodologically complementary studies revealed that mastery-approach goals lead to more cooperative and higher-quality exchange relationships than performance-approach goals and are, ultimately, associated with better job outcomes, as well. The results of a questionnaire study demonstrated that mastery-approach goals are more strongly related to cooperative motives and more weakly related to competitive motives than performance-approach goals. Furthermore, an experimental study indicated that mastery-approach driven individuals show a higher concern for others and are more strongly inclined to cooperate with an exchange partner when engaged in a complex reasoning task than performance-approach driven individuals. Finally, an organizational field study showed that team–member exchange mediates the effect of mastery-approach goals on job performance, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment.     

Endorsement of achievement goals across secondary school years: Applying a state-trait framework

This study examined stability and change in endorsement of achievement goals across secondary school years. A longitudinal, complementary, integrative approach was utilized with a sample of 6908 Korean eighth graders followed over three years at one-year intervals. The autoregressive models demonstrated differential stability, whereas latent growth curve models showed mean-level changes. Applying a state-trait framework, achievement goals evidenced both trait and state components; endorsement of achievement goals is stable, but may also exhibit change over time. Although all achievement goal types were more state-like than trait-like, avoidance goals (mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals) were more malleable than approach goals (mastery-approach and performance-approach goals); no differences were found between approach or avoidance goals.     

成就目标定向与小学生数学学习投入的关系:学业拖延和数学焦虑的中介作用

采用问卷法对708名小学高年级学生进行调查,以考察成就目标定向、学业拖延、数学焦虑与数学学习投入之间的关系,结果显示：（1）掌握定向和表现-接近定向均能直接正向预测数学学习投入,而表现-回避定向的直接预测作用不显著;（2）掌握定向、表现-接近定向和表现-回避定向均能通过学业拖延来间接预测数学学习投入;（3）掌握定向和表现-回避定向均能通过数学焦虑来间接预测数学学习投入,但表现-接近定向不能通过数学焦虑来间接预测数学学习投入;（4）三种成就目标定向均能通过学业拖延经数学焦虑的多重中介作用来预测数学学习投入。这表明成就目标定向不仅能直接预测,还能通过学业拖延和数学焦虑的多重中介作用,来间接预测小学生数学学习投入。