Chapter 8 Flashcards
What is Need For Achievement?
*Desire to:
*Accomplish something difficult
*Master, manipulate or organize
*Overcome obstacles and attain a high standard
How do we assess need for achievement?
Assessed using Thematic Apperception Test
Ex. Man staring thoughtfully
What is he thinking? (to participants)
If they have need for achievement, maybe they interpret the man as thinking about how to accomplish something big
What are Characteristics of High Need Achievers?
Do not always fit our stereotypes of a highly successful business person
They:
*Taking moderate risks
*Tackling work with a lot of energy
*Being disinterested in routine and boring jobs
*Preferring jobs that give personal responsibility for outcomes (this can be as issue, ex if boss wants credit they might micro manage everything)
*Wanting concrete feedback about the performance
What are Parenting practices associated with high need for achievement in children?
*High need for achievement related to economic prosperity
*High level of achievement motivation interferes with effective performance
Childhood factors that predict achievement behavior?
The mother might decide to let the boy fall a few times, but in the process allow him to develop a sense of mastery an independence.
However, she might also want to protect him just a little longer so that he can retain his sense of security and confidence.
Psychologists argue that such decisions have an impact on the child’s need for achievement
Explain how Men and women think about achievement in different way?
Men see success in terms of external standards
*Prestige and recognition
Women tend to rely on internal definitions of success
*“Did I do what I wanted to do?
What are Attributions?
What a person deems is responsible for their performance
*Determines how people feel about the performance and how people perform in similar situations in the future
*Way to improve achievement motivation
*Change people’s attributions
*Attribution retraining: move to better attribution to improve performance
Explain the three attributions:
Stable
Locus
Control
Stable:
- Was this expected based on past experience
Locus:
- Was this your effort, or someone else’s
Control:
- Was this something you could control?
Explain the two aspects of stable attribution
Stable:
- Good coordination
- Poor math Attitude
Unstable:
- Lucky!
- Illness (ex. caught a cold day of exam)
Explain the two aspects of locus attribution
Internal:
- Extra effort
- Poor skills
External:
- Easy test
- Difficult competition
Explain the two aspects of control attribution
Controllable:
- High motivation
- Not enough practice
Uncontrollable:
- From wealthy family
- weak national economy
What happens when too much external locus of control?
You wont self improve
- We typically want balance (can’t blame yourself all the time / sometimes you really get sick or have a shitty teacher - Paul)
But reattribution to get out of constant external locus of control will help you improve
Are you doomed by attributional style?
No! Attribution retraining
What are achievement goals?
The type of goal they have can influence if they achieve
Explain the four terms of Achievement Goals:
Motivation
Goal
Motive
Achievement - goal theory
Motivation
The energization and direction of behaviour
- what gets / keeps / stops you from doing something
Goal
Cognitive representation of what is it an individual is trying to achieve in a given situation
Motive
A specific physiological or psychological state of arousal that directs an organism’s energies toward a goal
Achievement goal theory
*Motives as goals
*Motives vary according to the kinds of goals you set and how they support achievement
*Some goals are more associated with success than others
Explain the categories of mastery and performance (with achievement goals)
Goals are: targets that people aspire to in achievement situation
*Mastery - concerned with developing competence
*Performance - concerned with demonstrating accomplishments to others
Example (mastery and performance achievement goals)
Student A: All I want is 90% and am not interested in the class
Student B: I want to learn as much as I can from the course. Good with 90%, but not the main goal
Who is more likely to do better and remember more?
Student B! They are in the mastery category, which is best
They want a growth mindset
What is difference between
Approach
Avoidance
Approach: moving towards (I want to be healthier)
Avoidance: Moving away from (I want to stop smoking)
What are the Effects of Mastery and Performance Goals?
*Mastery:
*Students choose more challenging tasks are more interested in their classes
*People retain information and skills learned longer
*People share information and work with others to achieve common goals
*Performance:
*Affects how well individuals work in groups
*People tend to see others as competition
*Advantages are limited
What are components that make up the Type A trait?
*Have a higher competitive achievement striving
*Respond to frustrating situations with anger
How do type A ppl react with groups?
*Desire to exercise effective control over the people and situations they encounter
*Tend to dominate a group discussion
*Type A people often have a sense of urgency and like to do more than one thing at a time
Explain the relation between hostility and type A:
Hostility component - Findings explaining relationships between Type A behavior and coronary disease
Thought it was type a ppl with heart health effects but it was actually ppl with high hostility
What does Social Anxiety cause?
*Related to social interactions
*Leads to:
*Increased physiological arousal
*Inability to concentrate
*Feelings of nervousness
What is the real cause of social anxiety?
Speaking in front of a group creates high levels of nervousness for someone high in social anxiety. High social-anxiety people are often concerned about negative evaluation
How you think others perceive you: Evaluation apprehension
What are the three identified ways of examining emotions as relatively stable personal characteristic?
*Affectivity - Extent to which people experience positive and negative emotions
*Intensity - Strength of the emotions people experience
*Expressiveness - Way people express their emotions
What are the two Dimensions of Emotional Affectivity?
*Positive - Each extreme respectively include emotions as:
*Active, content, and satisfied
*Sad and lethargic
(content vs sad)
*Negative - Emotions at the opposite extremes
*Nervousness, anger, and distress
*Calm and serene
(jittery vs calm)
Why is it important to know where someone falls on the two affect dimensions?
You can predict with reasonable accuracy a person’s general tendency to experience positive and negative affect years from now
How do ppl with People high in positive affect act?
*Act in ways that most people find attractive
*Tend to be happy, enthusiastic, and attentive
How do ppl with High scores on negative affect act?
−Relates to psychological stress
−Causes a diverse list of emotional problems
−People report more health problems and complain more than the symptoms warranted
−Results in difficulty dealing with stress
What is Dispositional optimism?
Extent to which people adopt to positive viewpoints
How to optimists usually act?
*Optimists:
*Effectively prioritize and set higher goals
*Believe they can reach the goals
*Never allow setbacks and temporary failures to get them down
*Connected to coping, well-being, and health
How do optimists Deal with Adversity?
*Dispositional optimists living in stressful region experienced less anxiety and depression than pessimists
*Optimists deal with adverse situations better than pessimist
*Optimists and pessimists use different strategies to cope with their problems