Motivation
Does wanting to grow or to look competent change how you learn?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Aiming to improve yourself went with enjoying a task, while trying not to look incompetent went with both lower enjoyment and lower exam scores.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — Three correlational studies: CFA of a new goal questionnaire (Study 1), goals vs intrinsic motivation (Study 2), goals measured days before a course exam vs exam score (Study 3)
- N
- Separate samples: 244 MTurk workers (Study 1), 405 MTurk workers (Study 2), 336 psychology students (Study 3).
- Population
- US/Canadian online adults (Studies 1-2) and US undergraduate psychology students (Study 3)
- Outcome
- Factor structure of the goal measure; self-reported intrinsic motivation; final exam score
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Key findings
The four-factor model fit the data better than any simpler alternative. Development-approach and development-avoidance goals positively predicted intrinsic motivation and demonstration-avoidance goals predicted it negatively, with the goals together explaining about 10.9% of the variance. For the exam, demonstration-approach goals predicted higher and demonstration-avoidance goals lower scores (about 8.0% of variance explained), and these results held after controlling for social desirability or SAT scores.
Methodology
The authors proposed that achievement goals differ on two dimensions: developing competence versus demonstrating it, and approaching success versus avoiding failure, giving four goals. They wrote a 12-item questionnaire and checked its structure in one online sample, related the goals to intrinsic motivation in a second online sample, and measured students' goals 6 days before a psychology final exam to predict their scores in a third sample.
Limitations
All three studies are correlational with no manipulation, so they cannot show that adopting a goal causes more motivation or better grades. Studies 1 and 2 relied on self-report from MTurk workers, and Study 3 used one course's exam that mostly required rote memorisation, which the authors say may not suit development goals. The effects are modest, and the demonstration items do not specify to whom competence is being shown.
How this study connects
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