Achievement Motivation Flashcards
Explain what is meant by the term ‘achievement motivation’
Tis is a term that links personality with the degree of competitiveness. It’s main focus is the extent to which an individual is motivated to attain success.
Define ‘competitiveness’
The degree to which a person has the motivation to approach and achieve success in sport. Sport specific achievement motivation.
Analyse the interactionist view of achievement motivation proposed by Atkinson and McClelland (1976)
This theory views achievement motivation as a personality trait which is activated by a situation. The situation comprises the probability of success (how likely it is) and the incentive value ( intrinsic value experienced once success has been achieved).
One personality trait that determines achievement motivation is having a ‘high need to achieve’. Give characteristics of this personality type.
High need to achieve, low need to avoid failure, approach behaviour is adopted, challenge is accepted, risks are undertaken, shows persistence, success is attributed to internal factors, failure is seen as a route to success, aspire to mastery orientation.
One personality trait that determines achievement motivation is having a ‘low need to achieve’. Give characteristics of this personality type.
Low need to achieve, high need to avoid failure, avoidance behaviour is adopted, challenge is rejected, risks are declined, curtails effort when task is difficult, success is attributed to external factors, failure seen as a route to further failure, adopt learned helplessness.
Define the term ‘Approach behaviour’
Describes behaviour that accepts a challenge
Define the term ‘Avoidance behaviour’
Describes behaviour that rejects a challenge
What is meant by the term attribution?
The process that predicts reasons for success or failure.
Explain the term ‘Mastery Orientation’
The strong motive to exceed. This type of person will expect to succeed but will persist when failure is experienced.
Explain the term ‘Learned Helplessness’
The belief that failure is inevitable and that the individual has no control over the factors that cause failure.
