Lecture 4 readings Flashcards
(39 cards)
Social-cognitive model
Includes entity theory which characterizes ability as stable and immutable, while incremental theory which is that ability can change. Involves 2 achievement goals: performance goals focus on demonstrating competence while mastery goals focus on developing competence and mastery. Perceived competence is the individual’s confident that they have the ability to accomplish the task at hand. Entity and performance goals-> low levels of persistence and intrinsic motivation. Incremental theory and mastery goals-> high levels of persistence, performance and intrinsic motivation. Entity theory prompts performance goals while incremental theory prompts mastery goals.
What is the 2*2 framework?
Performance-mastery distinction represents how competence is defined, and the approach-avoidance distinction represents how competence is valenced. So there are 4 achievements goals: mastery-approach (focused on attaining task-based or intrapersonal competence), performance-approach (focused on attaining normative competence), mastery-avoidance (avoiding task-based or intrapersonal incompetence) and performance avoidance (avoiding normative incompetence). Perceived competence can predict achievement goals
What is the method of study 1 Cury et al?
-field study on math performance in a classroom setting
- entity theory was predicted to negatively impact performance, while incremental theory was predicted to positively impact performance
- avoidance goals mediate the negative impact of entity theory on performance
- perceived competence was predicted to influence valence but not definition aspect of competence (high perceived competence-> approach, low -> avoidance)
- first completed measure of perceived competence, and one week later they completed measures of entity + incremental theory
What were the results of study 1 Cury et al?
Entity theory -> negative predictors of performance
Incremental theory -> positive predictors of performance
Performance avoidance goals mediated the negative influence of entity theory while approach goals suppressed this. Perceived competence did not moderate the influence of theories or goals on math performance. Performance approach and avoidance goals mediate the relation between perceived competence and math performance
What was the method of study 2 Cury et al?
Implicit theories were manipulated, used Iq test performance, included intrinsic motivation. Entity theory relative to incremental theory was expected to have a negative effect on intrinsic motivation . Entity theory was expected to increase performance approach and avoidance goals, and reduce mastery approach and avoidance goals. Pps had to do a subtest then were given either positive or negative feedback, then were told different things dependent on the condition, and completed an intrinsic motivation measure.
What were the results of study 2 Cury et al?
Entity theory increased the adoption of perf approach and avoidance goals, decreased mastery goals. Entity theory had a negative effect on intrinsic motivation. Mastery approach and performance avoidance goals mediated the relation btw implicit theory and intrinsic motivation, while mastery-avoidance goals suppressed this. Perceived competence predicted achievement goals, IQ test, IM, but did not moderate. Prior feedback had no direct main effect on achievement goal adoption
Goal-setting theory
The main premise is that encouraging people to pursue a goal that is specific and difficult will produce better performance than encouraging them to pursue a specific but easy goal or do their best (so better than non-specific goals and specific easy goals). Goal specificity results in reduced variance in performance, difficult goals direct attention + mobilize effort, persistence, development, task-strategies.
What are the moderators of the group goal effect?
- task interdependence refers to the degree to which group members share or exchange info. Has 4 levels: pooled, sequential, reciprocal, and intensive. TI moderates the effect of group goals on group performance so that the effect becomes stronger with increasing levels of TI
- task complexity involves: number of acts and info cues (component complexity), number of relationships among acts and cues (coordinative complexity) + changes in acts and cues and their relationships (dynamic complexity) -> TC moderates the effect of group goals on performance, but this effect decreases as tasks become more complex
- participation in decision making is influence sharing among supervisors + subordinates, and is associated with performance gains through cognitive + motivational mechanisms. It moderates the effect of group goals on performance so the effect is stronger for group goals set through tell-sell participation or delegation than for goals in a tell manner
Types of goals in participation?
Tell is authoritarian, without rationale while tell and sell style goals are supportive with a rationale
What is the role of multilevel goals in groups?
- distinction between egocentric (maximizing individual goals) and groupcentric (maximizing individual contribution to the group) individual goals
- for interdependent tasks, IGs can help or hinder group performance depending on their focus
- egocentric goals can prevent members from investing in the process
For interdependent group tasks, (a) egocentric individual goals are associated with lower group performance and (b) groupcentric individual goals are associated with
higher group performance compared with nonspecific goals.
What did the results find Kleingold et al?
- positive effect of specific group goals vs nonspecific ones on group performance
- goal setting is as effective at the group level or individual one
- no moderating role of TI, TC or participation, group goal effect did not decrease with increasing TC
- egocentric IGs undermine group performance while group-centric IGs enhance group performance
Optimality hypothesis of action identification theory
Effective behaviours are the result of an optimal match btw task difficulty and the cognitive representation of the task. Low identification levels: more concrete, mechanistic steps, while more meaningful tasks are the why of the behaviour. Individuals will eventually arrive at a level that optimally matches their proficiency.
Participants with low domain skill would gain more internal motivation from low-level writing about achieving goals, while participants with high domain-skill would gain more internal motivation from high-level writing-> match skill level with writing topic.
Perceived locus of causality framework
Identifies varying types of motivation, locating them on an internalization continuum from external motivation to introjected motivation. Internalization can be fostered when authority figures in the social context support the subordinates’ autonomy
Control theory
Attention should shift downwards within an action hierarchy once difficulties are encountered. Would benefit from a more proximal and concrete focus
What did Ferguson et al predict about the findings?
Individuals with a higher level of competence or skills compared to those with lower skills would experience increased internalization if prompted to self-reflect about the meaning and value of the goal
What was the method of study 1 Ferguson et al?
- focused on health goals that they were pursuing or planned to adopt
- they self-reflected, and assessed the internalization of the goal before and after their writing
- some reflected on why they were pursuing, and others on how
- individuals in the high level writing condition would increase their internalization compared to low
What were the results of study 1 Ferguson et al?
In the high level writing condition, participants increased in internalization that the level of skill towards their health goal was high, significant interaction effect, but issues with low reliability
What was the method of study 2 Ferguson et al?
- pursue academic goal of keeping up with schoolwork, investigated over 2 months
- interaction of skill and writing level would predict expectancies about semester grades, like low skill and low level writing would predicted higher expected GPA
- surveys were given online
What were the results of study 2 Ferguson et al?
- those who are less proficient were more likely to benefit from more autonomous motivation + positive expectancies, from lower level writing
- those who are more competent may not internalize their goal if they are instructed to think about their goal at a lower level
- replicated results from study 1
What is goal-setting theory based on?
First-level explanatory concepts- immediate motivational causes of most human action. A goal is the object or aim of an action, which can affect action
What were the core findings of Locke and Latham?
-Goal difficulty to performance: found a positive linear function that difficult goals produced the most effort, only leveled off when the limits of ability were reached
- specific difficult goals led to higher performance than urging people to do their best
How does goal-setting theory contradict Vroom’s valence-expectancy theory?
When goal level is held constant, higher expectancies led to higher levels of performance, but across goal levels, lower expectancies, associated with higher goal levels are associated with higher performance. This could be as those with high self-efficacy set higher goals than those with lower self-efficacy
How do goals affect performance?
- They serve a directive function as they direct attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities
- goals have an energizing function as high goals lead to greater effort than low goals
- goals affect persistence, as hard goals prolong effort
- goals affect action indirectly by leading to the arousal, discovery and use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies
- those urged to do their best can lead to better strategies with complex tasks
What are the moderators Locke and Latham?
- goal commitment: is important when the goal is difficult, factors can make goal attainment important to them, and the belief that they can attain the goal-> can do so by letting subordinates participate which is cognitive + monetary incentives
- self-efficacy: can raise it by ensuring training, role-modelling + persuasive communication, transformational leadership
- feedback: motivation needs control and feedback, and after attaining a goal, they set a higher one which creates motivation (reduction theory)-> creates discrepancy
- task complexity: effect size for goal setting is smaller on complex than simple tasks, specific difficult goals led to better performance, proximal goals can increase error management
