Beyond positive and negative affect: Achievement goals and discrete emotions in the elementary physical education classroom

ObjectivesBased on the Achievement Goal perspective [Dweck, C. S., Leggett, E. L. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95, 256–273; Nicholls, J. G. (1984). Achievement motivation: conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review, 91, 328–346] and on Pekrun et al.'s [(2004). Beyond test anxiety: development and validation of the test emotions questionnaire (TEQ). Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 17, 287–316] model of discrete class-related emotions, this study investigated the relation of achievement goals to discrete emotions in the Physical Education (PE) class.DesignCross-sectional.MethodParticipants were 319 Greek upper elementary school students who responded to a set of questionnaires assessing their achievement goal orientation, perceived competence, and the class-related emotions they experienced in the PE classes.ResultsHierarchical regression analyses showed that, after controlling for perceived competence and gender differences, task goals were positively related to positive activating emotions and negatively related to negative emotions. Ego goals exhibited a mixed picture as they were positively associated with pride and all the negative emotions. Furthermore, the relations between ego goals and emotions were qualified by an ego by task goal and by an ego by perceived competence interaction suggesting that ego goals were especially linked to emotional maladjustment when task goals were low and when competence perceptions were high rather than low.ConclusionUnique associations between task and ego goals and specific emotions were found, rendering insightful the disentanglement of positive and negative emotions into its components. The pursuit of task goals might help to counteract the emotional burden associated with ego goal pursuit whereas feeling competent to outperform when one endorses ego goals might perhaps put extra pressure on the pupils and, hence, have negative implications for their emotional adjustment.     

Self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes: the influence of implicit theories of the nature of ability and achievement goal orientations

Aim: To investigate the role of implicit theories of ability and achievement goals on self-handicapping strategies in physical education classes.Hypotheses: It was expected that incremental theories of ability would be negatively associated with self-handicapping strategies, whereas fixed theories of ability would enhance pupils’ self-reported use of such strategies. It was also hypothesised that low perceived competence would reinforce self-handicapping among pupils holding fixed theories of ability and an ego goal orientation.Method: A cross-sectional study of 9th graders in Norway (N=343; 166 boys and 177 girls) was conducted in which pupils responded to a questionnaire measuring sub-dimensions of fixed and incremental theories of ability, achievement goal orientations, perceived competence and self-handicapping in physical education.Results: Regression-based path analyses revealed that a fixed theory of ability had a direct positive effect on self-handicapping. The effects of an incremental implicit theory of ability on self-handicapping were negative and mediated by a task orientation. High perceived competence was found to buffer the aversive affect of holding a stable theory of ability on self-handicapping.Conclusion: The findings illustrate the importance of studying implicit motivational beliefs in physical education classes in order to provide an understanding of self-handicapping strategies among pupils.     

Achievement goals and emotions in athletes: The mediating role of challenge and threat appraisals

Although the relationships between achievement goals and discrete emotions have been examined in a few studies, the process through which these relationships occur has received little attention. The present study investigated whether task and ego achievement goals were related to excitement, hope, and anxiety and whether these relationships were mediated by challenge and threat appraisals. We also examined whether the two achievement goals interact to predict emotions. Undergraduate students (N = 344) completed a multi-section questionnaire assessing achievement goals, challenge and threat appraisals, perceived competence, hope, excitement, concentration disruption, worry, and somatic anxiety before taking part in a team sport trial. Results showed that task goal was positively related to excitement and hope, and these relationships were mediated by challenge appraisal. In addition, threat appraisal mediated the relationship between task goal and concentration disruption. Ego goal was indirectly related to excitement through challenge appraisal. Finally, ego goal positively predicted concentration disruption at low but not high levels of task goal. Our findings suggest that achievement goals may influence emotions through cognitive appraisals and the interaction between task and ego goals needs to be considered in future research.     

成就目标：理论、应用及研究趋势

成就目标理论是当前教育领域有关学生成就动机最为活跃的研究热点之一。20世纪中后期Weiner在整合动机理论和归因理论的基础上提出了成就目标理论。之后,Dweck等学者对成就目标的概念、分类及动机模式进行了大量研究。成就目标理论具有很好的发展前景,并在学校教育、体育运动和生涯发展等领域得到广泛的应用。未来研究应强调成就目标的动态性与多维性,注重成就目标的性别差异和社会期许效应,运用多元化方法以提高成就目标研究的外部效度,拓宽研究对象以增强成就目标的应用性研究,更加关注情绪情感与成就目标之间的关系。     

The effects of selective schooling and self‐concept on adolescents' academic aspiration: An examination of Dweck's self‐theory

Background. Dweck has emphasized the role of pupils' implicit theories about intellectual ability in explaining variations in their engagement, persistence and achievement. She has also highlighted the role of confidence in one's intelligence as a factor influencing educational attainment. Aim. The aim of this paper is to develop a model of achievement aspiration in adolescence and to compare young people who are educated at a selective grammar school with those who attend a non‐selective ‘secondary modern’ school. Sample. The sample consisted of 856 English secondary school pupils in years 7 and 10 from two selective and two non‐selective secondary schools. Method. Questionnaires were completed in schools. Results. The findings are consistent with the model, showing that achievement aspiration is predicted directly by gender, school type and type of intelligence theory. Importantly, school type also affects aspirations indirectly, with effects being mediated by confidence in one's own intelligence and perceived academic performance. Intelligence theory also affects aspirations indirectly with effects being mediated by perceived academic performance, confidence and self‐esteem. Additionally, intelligence theory has a stronger effect on aspirations in the selective schools than in the non‐selective schools. Conclusions. The findings provide substantial support for Dweck's self‐theory, showing that implicit theories are related to aspirations. However, the way in which theory of intelligence relates to age and gender suggests there may be important cross‐cultural or contextual differences not addressed by Dweck's theory. Further research should also investigate the causal paths between aspirations, implicit theories of intelligence and the impact of school selection.     

The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework

Two studies examined hypotheses drawn from a proposed modification of the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation that centered on the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework. Implicit theories of ability were shown to be direct predictors of performance attainment and intrinsic motivation, and the goals of the 2 x 2 framework were shown to account for these direct relations. Perceived competence was shown to be a direct predictor of achievement goals, not a moderator of relations implicit theory or achievement goal effects. The results highlight the utility of attending to the approach-avoidance distinction in conceptual models of achievement motivation and are fully in line with the hierarchical model of achievement motivation.     

Implicit theories of intelligence, perceived academic competence, and school achievement: testing alternative models

In the present study 3 alternative causal models concerning the relationships between implicit theories of intelligence, perceived academic competence, and school achievement were tested. The direction of changes in implicit theories and perceived competence during early adolescence also was examined. A total of 187 fifth and sixth graders were tested and retested a year later, when they were sixth and seventh graders, respectively. Cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that school achievement determined the adoption of a particular implicit theory through the mediation of perceived competence. Implicit theories were found to change toward the adoption of more incremental beliefs and perceived academic competence declined; however, high achievers, as compared with their low- and middle-level classmates, adopted more incremental beliefs and had significantly higher perceived competence.     

Causality Orientations, Failure, and Achievement

ABSTRACT Two studies examined similarities between Deci and Ryan's (1985) causality orientations theory and Dweck and Leggett's (1988) social-cognitive theory of achievement. Study 1 examined the conceptual similarity between the individual difference measures central to the two theories. It was shown that autonomous college students are likely to adopt learning goals and report high confidence in their academic abilities; controlled students are likely to adopt performance goals and to report high levels of confidence in their ability; and impersonal students are likely to possess the classic helpless pattern of performance goals and low confidence in their academic abilities. Study 2 examined whether causality orientations, like Dweck's measures of goals and confidence, moderate the impact of failure feedback on motivation as measured in persistence and performance. The results suggested that autonomous individuals respond to failure in a mastery-oriented fashion, whereas impersonal individuals respond in a helpless manner. The response of controlled individuals to failure parallels that of people described as ego-involved or reactive.     

Continued Participation in Youth Sports: The Role of Achievement Motivation

This study explored the antecedents of enjoyment and intention to continue in youth sports using the social-cognitive model of achievement motivation with the 2 × 2 achievement goal modification. Participants were 327 sports participants between 11 and 15 years of age. Individuals high in incremental beliefs reported greater enjoyment and intention to continue. This was perhaps due to endorsing mastery-approach goals. Individuals relatively high in entity beliefs reported relatively less enjoyment. This was perhaps due to endorsing performance-avoidance goals. These individuals also reported relatively less intention to continue regardless of their achievement goals. Findings could have implications for preventing dropout from youth sports.     

Carol S. Dweck: Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions

Presents Carol S. Dweck, 2011 winner of the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions. "For her insightful research and incisive theorizing concerning perceptions and interpretations of success and failure across many domains of human endeavor, but especially in the realm of academic achievement. Drawing on a series of innovative and elegant experimental paradigms, Carol S. Dweck has cast a theoretical net progressing from initial studies of learned helplessness to studies of the larger self-theories of ability, the activity goals individuals select, and the differential consequences associated with helpless versus mastery-oriented responses to difficult problems. Her widely cited work has produced, in addition, clever and effective strategies for promoting more functional incremental theories, learning goals, and persistence in students facing apparent failure." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).     

Attributional retraining and achievement goals: An exploratory study on theoretical and empirical relationship

IntroductionAchievement goals and attribution theory are theoretically and empirically linked, but existing literature lacks to explore the link between achievement goals and attributional retraining (AR), a motivational intervention based on the causal attribution theory.Objective(s)The aims of this field study were to determine the effectiveness of an AR treatment aimed to restructure college students’ dysfunctional causal explanations of poor performance and to explore whether achievement goals are predictive of the use of adaptive causal attributions.MethodsStudents’ achievement goals orientation and causal attributions were assessed and AR treatment was provided to a sample of second-year college students with maladaptive attributional schemas.ResultsFindings confirmed the effectiveness of AR treatment in restructuring self-defeating stable attributional explanations and suggested that achievement goals are implicated in the adoption of adaptive causal dimensions.ConclusionThe importance of integrating the two discussed theoretical models in order to provide efficacious AR interventions with students at risk is discussed.     

Moral emotions and the development of the moral self in childhood

Researchers have been emphasizing the importance of moral emotions for young children's moral self. However, the relationship between children's moral self and moral emotions has never been investigated empirically. The present study examined the relationship between children's self-representations about (im)moral behaviour and moral emotions attributions in a sample of 132 elementary-school children (M _age = 8.39 years, SD = 2.50). Participants were presented a newly developed moral self measure, along with a measure of moral emotion attributions. Two dimensions of children's moral self-concept were identified: preference for prosocial behaviour and avoidance of antisocial behaviour. Results revealed a slight decrease in preference for prosocial behaviour with age, as well as an increased correlation between preference for prosocial behaviour and moral emotion attributions. Overall, findings suggest that moral emotions do not play a pivotal role for young children's moral self-concept. Children's moral self-concept becomes increasingly coordinated with moral emotions as they approach adolescence.     

The Role of Implicit Beliefs and Achievement Goals as Protective Factors in Youth Sport

This study explored whether implicit beliefs and 2 × 2 achievement goals were related to enjoyment in youth sport over 1 year and whether perceived changes in the coach–athlete relationship moderated these relationships. Indirect and conditional indirect effect analyses were conducted in a sample of 247 regular sport participants (M_age = 13.03 years). After adjusting for enjoyment at Time 1, incremental beliefs were indirectly related to Time 2 enjoyment via mastery-approach goals. However, this effect was evident only when the coach–athlete relationship was perceived to have deteriorated. Results highlight the protective value of adaptive implicit beliefs and achievement goals in youth sport.     

Aberrations in emotional processing of violence-dependent stimuli are the core features of sadism

Psychopathy and sadism are personality traits that share emotional deficits and propensity towards violence. However, sadism should be based on additional affective aberrations: pleasant emotional responses to hurting others or witnessing others in pain. In Study 1 (N = 116) emotional responses to violent and peaceful images and their associations with the subclinical trait sadism are analyzed. The results showed that elevated positive emotions when observing violent stimuli and negative emotions as a reaction to peaceful stimuli predicted sadism, even when variance of psychopathy was controlled in the analysis. In Study 2 (N = 156) implicit associations between violence-dependent stimuli (measured by IAT task) and terms describing positive and negative emotions are analyzed. Again, lower negative associations to violent stimuli predicted sadism, together with psychopathic trait of callous affect. The obtained results provide additional clarification of emotional processes in subclinical sadism.     

Consumers' attributions and brand evaluations in product‐harm crises: The role of implicit theories of personality

This study aims to examine the moderating role of implicit theories of personality in the relationship between corporate recovery strategy (i.e., support versus stonewalling) and consumers' attributions (and brand evaluations). It is suggested that consumers' implicit theories about the fixedness/malleability of personality can affect consumers' attributions and brand evaluations during a product‐harm crisis. In addition, corporate image (i.e., strong versus weak) can moderate the influence of the role of implicit theories of personality. Two experiments were conducted to examine the proposed hypotheses. Results of Experiment 1 show that consumers who endorse entity theory (i.e., entity theorists) are likely to attribute crisis as more internal, stable, and controllable, particularly when they do not have any prior knowledge about the firm. The entity theorists would have more negative brand evaluations than incremental theorists (who endorse incremental theory), when “support” strategy was used by the firm. Results of Experiment 2 show that entity theorists are prone to have more external (internal) and unstable (stable) attributions toward a firm with a strong (weak) corporate image. Furthermore, entity theorists would provide more positive brand evaluations than incremental theorists when “stonewalling” strategy was used by a firm with strong corporate image, but not when “support” strategy was used by a firm with weak corporate image. Managerial implications are provided to managers with regard to product‐harm crisis and recovery strategies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implicit and self-attributed achievement motives: concordance and predictive validity

As a complement to the literature on the discriminant validity of implicit and self-attributed motives, this study explored two issues that point to convergences: moderation of concordance between implicit and self-attributed achievement motives, and the role of the two types of motive as antecedents of achievement goals. Significant positive correlations were found between implicit and self-attributed need for achievement and between implicit and self-attributed fear of failure. Individuals higher in self-determination were more concordant in implicit and self-attributed need for achievement. Implicit and self-attributed achievement motives predicted achievement goals in a similar manner, and structural equation modeling yielded good fit for a conceptually parsimonious latent motive model. It is suggested that implicit and self-attributed motives converge in some respects (yet diverge in others), and implications for theory are discussed.     

School socio-economic status and student socio-academic achievement goals in upper secondary contexts

In recent years motivational researchers have spent considerable time examining race/ethnicity and gender differences in academic and social achievement goals, but little time examining the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). This lack of attention is surprising given that both student motivation and SES have been shown to predict academic attainment. This study surveyed the academic and social achievement goal orientations of 16–17 year old students (n = 130) attending two schools with markedly different socioeconomic profiles. Analyses showed significant differences between the schools on the academic achievement goal scales, with students at the low SES school less likely to endorse adaptive combinations of mastery and performance goals than their high SES counterparts. Students who did not expect to finish senior high school also endorsed social goals that may manifest as disruptive behaviours in the classroom. The findings suggest that SES may influence the adoption of academic achievement goals but not necessarily social achievement goals. Implications for theory and research are discussed.     

Achievement Emotions: A Control-Value Approach

Emotions are ubiquitous in achievement settings. Apart from test anxiety research and attributional studies, psychological research has neglected these emotions. We argue that more research on the functions, origins, and regulation of achievement emotions is needed, addressing both outcome emotions related to success and failure, such as hope, pride, anxiety, shame, and hopelessness, and activity emotions such as the enjoyment and boredom experienced in achievement settings. Using Pekrun’s (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions as a theoretical framework, we first outline a three-dimensional (object focus × valence × activation) taxonomy of achievement emotions. We then summarize research on the individual and social origins of these emotions, arguing that control appraisals, value appraisals, achievement goals, and related contextual factors are of specific relevance for achievement emotion arousal. Next, the importance of emotions for achievement behavior and performance is addressed. In conclusion, we discuss the regulation and modification of achievement emotions and their relative universality across genders, settings, and cultures.     

Asian Indian Immigrant and White American Maternal Emotion Socialization and Child Socio-Emotional Functioning

Previous research provides an inadequate account of parental emotion socialization and its relation to child functioning among ethnic minority groups in the United States. This study compared reports of Asian Indian immigrant and White American mothers’ emotion socialization and examined relations between mothers’ emotion socialization and child outcomes in these two groups. Indian immigrant (n = 34) and White American (n = 38) mothers completed measures of child behavior problems and social competence, as well as self-report measures of two types of emotion socialization, responses to children’s negative emotions and emotion expressivity. Children completed a self-report measure of social competence. Results revealed that Indian immigrant mothers were more likely than White American mothers to report responding nonsupportively to their children’s negative emotions. However, reports of mothers’ nonsupportive responses were not related to child outcomes in the Indian immigrant group. In the White American group, reports of mothers’ nonsupportive responses were positively related to child behavior problems. Mothers’ self-reported negative emotion expressivity was positively related to child behavior problems and negatively related to mother-rated child social competence for Indian immigrants, while no significant relation was found between mothers’ negative emotion expressivity and child outcomes for White Americans. Moderation analyses were performed with these variables but were nonsignificant. Results are discussed in the context of cultural influences on emotion socialization and subsequent impact on child functioning.     

Satisfying one's needs for competence and relatedness: consequent domain-specific well-being depends on strength of implicit motives

Considering the effect of implicit motives, the current study examined the link between well-being in important life domains, that is, job and relationship, and the satisfaction of needs as proposed by self-determination theory. Data on domain-specific well-being, satisfaction of needs for competence and relatedness, and the implicit achievement and affiliation motives were assessed from 259 German and Cameroonian participants. The achievement motive moderated the relation between competence and job satisfaction. Furthermore, the affiliation motive moderated the association between relatedness and relationship satisfaction. Satisfaction of the needs for competence and relatedness is linked to higher levels of job and relationship satisfaction, respectively, among individuals with strong implicit motives. Effects were found regardless of participants' culture of origin. Findings indicate that implicit motives can be understood as weighting dispositions that affect how far experiences of competence and relatedness are linked with satisfaction in relevant life domains.