Achievement Goals and Motivation Need for Achievement, Lecture notes of Psychology

Download Achievement Goals and Motivation Need for Achievement and more Lecture notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! LP 9D Happiness 1 03/10/07 Achievement Goals and Motivation Need for Achievement: A personality characteristic representing the desire to accomplish tasks and attain standards of excellence. High Need Achievers: People with high overall achievement motivation have • a strong motive for success and • a weak fear of failure compared to those with low achievement motivation. Low need achievers tend to display the opposite pattern. LP 9D Happiness 2 03/10/07 How do high need achievers and low need achievers differ? High-need achievers • persist longer after encountering difficulties than do low-need achievers. • don’t outperform low-need achievers when conditions are relaxed and tasks are easy • outperform low-need achievers when the tasks are challenging or when the importance of doing well is stressed. In general, high-need achievers are most likely to strive hard for success when • They perceive themselves as personally responsible for the outcome • They perceive some risk of not succeeding • There is an opportunity to receive performance feedback LP 9D Happiness 5 03/10/07 Achievement Goals Mastery Performance- approach Performance- avoidance The desire to master a task and learn new knowledge or skill. People are intrinsically motivated. These goals reflect a competitive orientation that focuses on being judged favorably relative to other people. These goals center on avoiding negative judgements. • I want to learn as much as possible from this class • I am motivated by the thought of outperforming my peers in this class • I just want to avoid doing poorly in this class High Need Achievers Low Need Achievers Researchers believe that students who adopt both mastery and performance-approach goals display the optimal pattern of motivation for college courses. LP 9D Happiness 6 03/10/07 Overall, performance avoidance goals are associated with perceiving exams as anxiety-provoking threats. At the end of the term, they report that the course was less interesting, enjoyable and had lower grades compared to those who did not endorse performance avoidance goals. Mastery goals predicted the tendency to perceive exams as a positive challenge and rate them as more interesting and enjoyable. Mastery goals were unrelated to course grades. Performance-approach goals predicted grades, but did not predict enjoyment or interest. When it comes to exams, they are weakly associated with feelings of both challenge and a threat. LP 9D Happiness 7 03/10/07 What factors are related to happiness? From Psychology, 2nd edition, by David G. Myers, he summarizes the research on the factors that are related and unrelated to happiness (page 399). Identify the items that you think are related and unrelated to happiness. We will see what the scientific research indicates who is in general happier. Who is happier? • Health: Do people with severe and disabling medical conditions less happy? bad health, neither, good health, depends • Money (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a lot of money compared to those who have less money?) More money, neither, less money, depends • Intelligence (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a greater IQ score than those who have a smaller IQ score?) High IQ, neither, low IQ, depends • Satisfying relationship (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a more satisfying relationship compared to those who have a less satisfying relationship?) Satisfying, neither, unsatisfying, depends • Having a meaningful spiritual commitment or religious faith (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a meaningful spiritual commitment and those who have a less meaningful spiritual commitment?) Committed, neither, less meaningful, depends • Being socially outgoing (Is there a difference in happiness between those who are more socially outgoing compared to those who are less socially outgoing?) Social outgoing, neither, less socially outgoing, depends • Being employed (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a job compared to those who don’t?) Unemployed, neither, employed, depends • Educational level (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have more formal education compared to those who have less formal education?) More formal education, neither, less formal education, depends • Self-esteem (Is there a difference in happiness between those with a high self-esteem compared to those with a lower self-esteem?) High, neither, low, depends • Sleeping well (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have adequate amounts of sleep compared to those who do not?) Sleeping well, neither, not sleeping well, depends • Amount of exercise (Is there a difference in happiness between those who get more exercise compared to those who get less exercise?) Exercising, neither, less exercising, depends • Age (Is there a difference in happiness between the old and young?) Older, neither, younger, depends • Race (Is there a difference in happiness between different ethnic groups?) • Gender (Is there a difference in happiness between men and women?) Men, neither, women, depends • Parenthood (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have children compared to those who do not?) Parents, neither, non- parents, depends • Attractiveness (Is there a difference in happiness between those who are considered attractive compared to those who are considered less attractive?) Attractive, neither, less attractive, depends • Self-serving bias (Is there a difference in happiness between those who have a more accurate perception of reality compared to those who have a less accurate perception of reality?) Committing this bias, neither, not committing this bias, depends After you have completed the table indicate which ones the research supports. Pay close attention to the items that you expected to be related to happiness, and are not related to happiness.