Performing great and the purpose of performing better than others: on the recursiveness of the achievement goal adoption process

The purpose of the present research is to complement and extend previous achievement goal research by emphasizing that great performance may serve as an antecedent of performance‐approach goal adoption, that is, the wish to outperform others. A consistent finding across the three studies is, indeed, that great (perceived) performance and high performance expectancies are associated with the adoption of performance‐approach goals. It is concluded that the process of goal adoption is a dynamic, recursive process in which performance attainment is most likely to operate as both an antecedent and a consequence of goal adoption. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.