•The study expands the goal complex canon with new reasons for goal pursuit.•A new measure of goal complexes was validated.•A performance goal’s effects depended on why it is pursued.•Social reasons ...for goal pursuit were healthier than often assumed.•Findings were consistent across samples from the USA and Thailand.
Achievement goal theory has evolved since introduced about 40 years ago. One of its newer variants is the goal complex model. It assumes that each achievement goal (i.e., performance or mastery) can be pursued for many reasons and, more provocatively, that the goal’s effects depend partly on why it is pursued. Clearly, the first task for this area is to identify likely goal pursuit reasons, develop and validate a measure of reasons, and chart the influence of those reasons. Progress remains limited, however. Nearly all studies have considered only a small set of reasons suggested predominantly by self-determination theory, overlooking several other plausible reasons. Nor is there an established measure of goal pursuit reasons. To overcome those limitations, the current study validated and tested a new goal complex measure that includes several additional goal pursuit reasons, both personal (e.g., pride) and social (e.g., to make close others proud, or to help or serve others) in nature. Two culturally distinct samples of university students – one from the USA (n = 400), the other from Thailand (n = 404) – completed the measure with performance goals in mind and then reported a diverse array of educational outcomes. Their results converge for the most part. In each sample, the new measure proved to have good structural validity and psychometric properties. Several goal complexes, including the new social ones, showed unique and often desirable relationships with outcomes, too. The findings raise several research directions and implications for achievement goal theory.
This study tested how type of goals (i.e., performance and mastery goals) influence perceived control for goal achievement over time (i.e., after 12 months) while controlling for motivational ...persistence, gender, self-efficacy, initial perceived control, emotional involvement, and perceived difficulty. Goals and self-reported data from 1220 students were analyzed. Comparative test indicated that students describing a mastery goal display more motivational persistence and more perceived control for goal achievement, compared to those describing a performance goal. Type of goals directly and significantly predict perceived control of goal achievement at 12 months. Motivational persistence directly, positively, and significantly predicts perceived control of goal achievement at 12 months. In addition, motivational persistence positively and significantly mediates the relation between type of goals and perceived control of goal achievement at 12 months. Results support a partial mediation model.
Past studies that explored the antecedents of achievement goals have mostly focused on the role of personal characteristics and parental/teacher influences. However, the role of one’s classmates has ...not been given much attention. Drawing on the concept of goal contagion, the present study aimed to examine whether classmates’ achievement goals influence one’s achievement goals. We recruited 848 secondary school students nested within 30 classes and asked them to answer relevant questionnaires at Time 1 and Time 2. Multilevel analysis was used to examine whether classmates’ achievement goals at Time 1 predicted one’s achievement goals at Time 2 thereby demonstrating achievement goal contagion. To rule out alternative explanations, we controlled for baseline achievement goals at Time 1, social desirability bias, and other relevant demographic factors. Results indicated that mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals were contagious, but mastery-avoidance goals were not. Our study highlights the importance of understanding achievement goal contagion among classmates.
Objective
Trait and perceived environmental competitiveness are typically studied separately, but they undoubtedly have a joint influence on goal pursuit and behavior in achievement situations. The ...present research was designed to study them together. We tested the relation between trait and perceived environmental competitiveness, and we tested these variables as separate and sequential predictors of both performance‐based goals and performance attainment.
Method
In Studies 1a (N = 387 U.S. undergraduates) and 1b (N = 322 U.S. undergraduates), we assessed participants' trait and perceived environmental competitiveness, as well as third variable candidates. In Study 2 (N = 434 MTurk workers), we sought to replicate and extend Study 1 by adding reports of performance‐based goal pursuit. In Study 3 (N = 403 U.S. undergraduates), we sought to replicate and extend Study 2 by adding real‐world performance attainment. The studies focused on both the classroom and the workplace.
Results
Trait and perceived environmental competitiveness were shown to be positively related and to positively predict separate variance in performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goal pursuit. Perceived environmental competitiveness and performance‐based goal pursuit were shown to be sequential mediators of the indirect relation between trait competitiveness and performance attainment.
Conclusions
These studies highlight the importance of attending to the interplay of the person and the (perceived) situation in analyses of competitive striving.
Cancer pain is multidimensional and management should be individualized to patient goals. The current standard for pain goal assessment is the personal pain goal (PPG), a numeric rating for tolerable ...pain intensity. However, the PPG may not accurately capture a personally meaningful goal for tailoring pain management.
Identify how pain goals are used in cancer pain management and types of goals researched.
CINAHL, PsychInfo, and PubMed databases and manual searching were used to locate research or scholarship about cancer pain goals. Authors reviewed titles, abstracts and full text to agree on the final sample.
Sixteen articles met inclusion criteria. Study designs included: quality improvement project (1), concept analysis (1), qualitative methods (5), quantitative methods (8), and mixed methods (1). Findings included: goal setting as a key attribute of pain management; achieving personal goals as the outcome of pain management work; qualitative themes discussed personal goals related to pain management; developing a patient pain management resource including a SMART goal; using motivational interviewing to set functional pain goals; PPG assessment was feasible; and achieving PPG equated to having controlled pain when compared to the clinically important difference measure used in research (≥30%). Quantitative studies reported on PPGs only.
Currently, assessments for cancer pain goals do not include function, activities, moods, medication effects, or safety that patients wish to achieve as a pain management outcome. Development and testing of multidimensional patient pain goals assessments is warranted so that goals can be consistently assessed, documented, and personally meaningful.
The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relationship between anxiety and achievement goals among college students in China. The study collected the anxiety levels and achievement ...goals of college students from the freshman to senior years and conducted a four-wave random intercept cross-lagged model to analyze their prospective relationship. The results showed that (1) Chinese college students continued to score higher on approach goals than on avoidance goals on average, indicating that they tended to accomplish their goals through effort rather than to avoid negative results; (2) Anxiety was significantly negatively correlated with mastery-approach goals yet positively associated with mastery-avoidance goals and performance-avoidance goals over the four academic years; and (3) Anxiety among freshman students exerted significant positive effects on their mastery goals during the sophomore year, whereas high levels of anxiety during the sophomore year generated more avoidance goals during the junior year, and anxiety in the junior year led to fewer approach goals during the senior year. Furthermore, performance-avoidance goals had persistent effects on anxiety symptoms among college students. This study suggests that it is necessary to distinguish the heterogeneous effects of anxiety on achievement goals during different academic years. Students in the freshman year should maintain proper levels of anxiety to promote their pursuit of mastery goals; nevertheless, anxiety among sophomores and juniors should be approximately alleviated to reduce their avoidance goals and generate more approach goals.
Background
Mastery and performance goals are typically measured as trait‐like goals. However, in their daily academic pursuits, students pursue more concrete goals. The pursuit of these goals is ...replete with obstacles that can lead to an action crisis.
Aims
We examined how mastery and performance goals affect progress, effort and well‐being during academic goal pursuit. We also asked whether these goals moderated relations between an action crisis and goal pursuit.
Sample
154 Israeli students (average age = 23.59 years, SD = 2.17; 62% female) preparing for an exam.
Methods
In this daily diary study, participants first reported the date of their most stressful exam, two related goals, and their trait‐like achievement goals (mastery, performance). They then completed daily questionnaires assessing their progress, effort, well‐being and action crisis on the 10 days leading up to the exam.
Results
Multilevel modelling showed mastery goals positively predicted daily goal effort and progress and negatively predicted daily action crises, while performance goals positively predicted daily negative affect and action crises. An action crisis was negatively correlated with next‐day goal progress and positive affect among students with high‐performance goals. In students with low‐performance goals, an action crisis positively predicted next‐day positive affect. Finally, for students high on mastery goals, an action crisis was unrelated to negative affect on the same day.
Conclusions
Different trait‐like achievement goals can be mapped onto a common personal goal and affect its pursuit differently. Mastery goals predict optimal goal pursuit, and performance goals are associated with non‐optimal goal pursuit.
Objective
The study explored the prospective relations between depression and approach‐avoidance achievement goals of undergraduate students in China.
Methods
2473 full‐time undergraduates reported ...their depression and achievement goals annually from the freshman to the senior year. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and cross‐lagged models.
Results
Students' achievement goals decreased gradually during the first 3 years but rose in the fourth year, and the avoidance goals appeared to be less prevalent than the approach goals over time. Depression was negatively associated with approach goals, whereas positively correlated with avoidance goals. Depression in the freshman and sophomore years resulted in more avoidance goals 1 year later, and the depressive problems in the junior year predicted the decline of approach goals in the senior year.
Conclusions
The present study highlighted the deleterious effects of depression on the achievement goals of college students.
Little is known about how couples’ social support facilitates the pursuit of important goals in daily life. Using an interpersonal perspective, we examined the effects of support provision and ...receipt on same-day physical activity, and studied the role of partners’ joint engagement in activities. One hundred nineteen heterosexual couples reported on target persons’ received and partners’ provided support across 28 diary days, yielding 2,854 valid days. A dyadic report on couples’ joint engagement was obtained from a subset of 88 couples. Target persons’ daily activity was objectively assessed via accelerometers. On days with high versus low levels of provided support, target persons’ activity was 25 min higher. Support receipt mediated 20% of this effect. Joint engagement accounted for around half of the effects of provided and received support. Support provision is uniquely linked to goal implementation in everyday life. Joint engagement in activities may be one explanation for how support is facilitated.
The present study investigated contextual and personal factors associated with teachers' achievement goals for teaching. A total of 211 teachers completed an online survey. Hierarchical multiple ...regression analyses revealed that perceived school mastery goal structure and performance goal structure predicted teachers' mastery goals and performance-approach goals, respectively. Teachers' sense of efficacy moderated the effect of perceived school goal structures on achievement goals for teaching. Teachers with high teaching efficacy maintained personal achievement goals for teaching even when their schools emphasized conflicting goals. However, teachers with low teaching efficacy tended to assimilate the goals promoted by their schools.
► School mastery goal structure predicted mastery goals for teaching. ► School performance goal structure predicted performance-approach goals for teaching. ► Teachers' sense of efficacy moderated the effect of goal structure on teacher goals.
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