Avoidance achievement motivation: a personal goals analysis.
The present research investigated one antecedent and various consequences of pursuing avoidance personal achievement goals over the course of a semester. The authors assessed participants' achievement-relevant goals using the newly devised Achievement Goals Questionnaire. The motive to avoid failure, assessed with self-report and projective measures, was established as an antecedent of avoidance goal pursuit. Avoidance regulation was shown to have deleterious consequences for a host of achievement-relevant and general well-being outcomes at the end of the semester, including longitudinal change in subjective well-being. Perceived competence was validated as a mediator of the direct relationships observed. The results highlight the need to attend to avoidance, as well as approach, forms of self-regulation and the need to consider both motive disposition and goal constructs in accounting for competence-relevant behavior.
Elliot
A J
AJ
Department of Psychology, University of Rochester, New York 14627, USA.
Sheldon
K M
KM
D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires