Chapter 8

Question 1

What is Need For Achievement?

Answer 1

*Desire to:
*Accomplish something difficult
*Master, manipulate or organize
*Overcome obstacles and attain a high standard

Question 2

How do we assess need for achievement?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What are Characteristics of High Need Achievers?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What are Parenting practices associated with high need for achievement in children?

Answer 4

*High need for achievement related to economic prosperity
*High level of achievement motivation interferes with effective performance

Question 5

Childhood factors that predict achievement behavior?

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Explain how Men and women think about achievement in different way?

Answer 6

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?

Question 7

What are Attributions?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Explain the three attributions:
Stable

Locus

Control

Answer 8

Stable:
- Was this expected based on past experience

Locus:
- Was this your effort, or someone else’s

Control:
- Was this something you could control?

Question 9

Explain the two aspects of stable attribution

Answer 9

Stable:
- Good coordination
- Poor math Attitude

Unstable:
- Lucky!
- Illness (ex. caught a cold day of exam)

Question 10

Explain the two aspects of locus attribution

Answer 10

Internal:
- Extra effort
- Poor skills

External:
- Easy test
- Difficult competition

Question 11

Explain the two aspects of control attribution

Answer 11

Controllable:
- High motivation
- Not enough practice

Uncontrollable:
- From wealthy family
- weak national economy

Question 12

What happens when too much external locus of control?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Are you doomed by attributional style?

Answer 13

No! Attribution retraining

Question 14

What are achievement goals?

Answer 14

The type of goal they have can influence if they achieve

Question 15

Explain the four terms of Achievement Goals:

Motivation

Goal

Motive

Achievement - goal theory

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Explain the categories of mastery and performance (with achievement goals)

Answer 16

Goals are: targets that people aspire to in achievement situation

*Mastery - concerned with developing competence

*Performance - concerned with demonstrating accomplishments to others

Question 17

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?

Answer 17

Student B! They are in the mastery category, which is best

They want a growth mindset

Question 18

What is difference between

Approach

Avoidance

Answer 18

Approach: moving towards (I want to be healthier)

Avoidance: Moving away from (I want to stop smoking)

Question 19

What are the Effects of Mastery and Performance Goals?

Answer 19

*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

Question 20

What are components that make up the Type A trait?

Answer 20

*Have a higher competitive achievement striving
*Respond to frustrating situations with anger

Question 21

How do type A ppl react with groups?

Answer 21

*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

Question 22

Explain the relation between hostility and type A:

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What does Social Anxiety cause?

Answer 23

*Related to social interactions

*Leads to:
*Increased physiological arousal
*Inability to concentrate
*Feelings of nervousness

Question 24

What is the real cause of social anxiety?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What are the three identified ways of examining emotions as relatively stable personal characteristic?

Answer 25

*Affectivity - Extent to which people experience positive and negative emotions

*Intensity - Strength of the emotions people experience

*Expressiveness - Way people express their emotions

Question 26

What are the two Dimensions of Emotional Affectivity?

Answer 26

*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)

Question 27

Why is it important to know where someone falls on the two affect dimensions?

Answer 27

You can predict with reasonable accuracy a person’s general tendency to experience positive and negative affect years from now

Question 28

How do ppl with People high in positive affect act?

Answer 28

*Act in ways that most people find attractive
*Tend to be happy, enthusiastic, and attentive

Question 29

How do ppl with High scores on negative affect act?

Answer 29

−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

Question 30

What is Dispositional optimism?

Answer 30

Extent to which people adopt to positive viewpoints

Question 31

How to optimists usually act?

Answer 31

*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

Question 32

How do optimists Deal with Adversity?

Answer 32

*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