title: Boasts are a boost: achievement prime self-reactivity predicts subsequent academic performance.
abstract: The present research tests the hypothesis that self-reactivity following an achievement prime reflects the strength of achievement goals and is a predictor of future goal-relevant performance. In Studies 1-3, undergraduates reported their grade-point averages (GPAs) following either an achievement goal prime or a control prime. Academic exaggeration (higher self-reported than official GPA) was the indicator of self-reactivity to the prime. Study 1 involved a direct achievement goal prime, whereas Studies 2 and 3 involved indirect priming techniques. In all 3 experiments, greater academic exaggeration following the achievement goal prime (but not the control prime) predicted better academic performance a semester later (based on official records). Study 4 demonstrated that the magnitude of students' GPA goals mediated the association between academic exaggeration and subsequent performance (1 year later). The fact that self-reactivity to a single achievement goal prime in the lab predicted later performance in "real life" suggests that individual differences in reactivity to a specific prime can signal much broader motivational orientations related to the primed goal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Syracuse University.
authors.forename: Richard H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Gramzow
authors.affiliation: Silicon Valley School of Management, San Jose State University.
authors.forename: Camille S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: epartment of Psychology, Harvard University.
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Willard
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult