Exam 2 Flashcards
types of acquired needs
Social needs
Quasi needs
Quasi-needs
situationally induced wants that create tense energy to engage in behavior capable of reducing the built-up tension
the right then and there needs that go away once fulfilled (bandaid)
Social Needs
An acquired psychological process that grows out of one’s socialization history that activates emotional responses to a particular need-relevant incentive
Types of Social needs and Incentives
Achievement: Doing something well to show personal competence
Affiliation: Opportunity to please others and gain their approval
Intimacy: Warm, secure relationship
Power: Having impact on others:
Only appear in response to a stimulus
Achievement
Desire to do well relative to a standard of excellence. It motivates people to seek “success in competition” person’s sense of competence that ends with an objective outcome of success versus failure, win versus lose, or right versus wrong (link between social and psycho needs)
High-need Achiever vs. Low-need Achiever
Approach-oriented Emotions vs. Avoidance-oriented Emotions (Hope vs. Anxiety)
Differences in Choice, Latency, Effort, Persistence, and the Willingness to take personal responsibility for successes and failures
Cognitive Influences on achievement
Perceptions of high ability: Have a belief that our environment will react in a meaningful way
Mastery orientation: Very importance in achievement and motivation
Optimistic attributional style: Promotes good vibes within us and in failure inhibit negative emotions
Socialization Influences
- Parents’ independence training (self reliance)
- high performance aspirations,
- realistic standards of excellence,
- high ability self-concepts (This task will be easy for you”)
- positive valuing of achievement-related pursuits
- mental stimulation at home (books to read)
- exposure to children’s readers rich in achievement imagery (The Little Engine That Could)
Developmental Influences
unrealistically high ability beliefs in childhood, despite failure.
During middle childhood, however, children increasingly pay attention to peer performance comparisons, and by late childhood, they rely on a fuller gamut of information
Atkinson’s Model formula any symbols
Ta=(Ms × Ps × Is) - (Maf × Pf × If )
Ta: tendency to achieve
Ms: Motive to Success
Ps : Perceived Probability
of Success
Is : Incentive Value of
Success=1-Ps
Maf : Motive to Avoid Failure
Pf : Perceived Probability of
Failure (1- Ps)
If : Negative Incentive value
for Failure (1- Is)
Atkinsons classic formula
Ts = Ms × Ps × Is
(1) the strength of a person’s need for achievement (Ms, motive to succeed), (2) the perceived probability of success (Ps), and (3) the incentive value of success (Is).
The variable Is is equal to 1−Ps. Therefore, if the probability of success is .25, the incentive for success at that task would be .75 (1.00 − 0.25). That is, incentive value for success during difficult tasks is high whereas it is low during easy tasks.
Atkinsons belief
Optimal challenge (Ps = .5) provides the richest motivational combination of expectancy of success and incentive for success.
instead of taking on the state champ, you’ll want to take on someone you is just as good as you (flow)
Atkinsons contemporary view
Taf = Maf × Pf × If
The tendency to avoid failure motivates the individual to defend against the loss of self-esteem, the loss of social respect, and the fear of embarrassment
Dynamics-of-Action Model
Achievement behavior occurs within a stream of ongoing behavior. The stream of behavior is determined largely by three forces:
- instigation
- inhibition
- consummation
causes Streams of Ongoing Behavior
Latency to begin an achievement depends on motive strength. (Ms vs. Maf)
Persistence on an achievement task depends on motive strength. (Ms vs. Maf)
Switching to a nonachievement task occurs with rising consumption.
Instigation
Causes a rise in approach tendencies and occurs by confronting environmental stimuli associated with past reward (i.e., anything that cultivates an increased hope for success). Instigation is the same as Ts.
Inhibition
Causes a rise in avoidance tendencies and occurs by confronting environmental stimuli associated with past punishment (i.e., anything that cultivates an increased fear of failure). Inhibition is the same as Taf.
Consummation
Refers to the fact that performing an activity brings about its own ces- sation (e.g., running, eating, drinking, sleeping, reading this book).
Difference between Atkinsons classical theory and his action model
Adding consummatory forces allows achievement behavior to be understood as dynamic (changing over time) instead of episodic or static. For instance, your achievement strivings during any one college class change as the class progresses throughout the semester week after week.
After 16 weeks, people often feel that they are tired of the class, saying, “Okay, thanks, that’s enough.”
Conditions That Involve and Satisfy the Need for Achievement
Moderately Difficult Tasks
Competition
Entrepreneurship
Moderately difficult tasks
High need achievers out perform low need achievers on moderately difficult tasks
Best for testing skills, experiencing emotion (e.g. pride) and testing competence and level of ability
Competition
captures much of the risk-taking dilemma inherent in achievement settings. It promotes positive emotion, approach behavior, and improved performance in high-need achievers, but negative emotion, avoidance behaviors, and debilitated performance in low-need achievers
Why do high need achievers seek competition?
High need achievers seek: Diagnostic ability information Seek opportunities to test their skills Value competence for its’ own sake Enjoy demonstrating ability’ Approach behavior A diagnostic of their ability Competence for just the sake of beating someone else
Entrepreneurship
appeals to high-needs achievers because
Requires taking risk
Assuming responsibility for personal success and failures
Provides concrete, rapid performance feedback
People who don’t like settling for being the middle man (bill gates)
High achievers prefer occupations that offer challenge, independent work, personal responsibility and rapid performance feedback.
Two Main Achievement Goals
Performance Goals - high achievers (get the A)
Mastery Goals- low achievers
Mastery Goals
Develop one’s competence: to make progress and improve as a person
- Make progress
- Improve the self
- Overcome difficulties with effort and persistence
When they have a setback, they take it as a challenge
Performance Goals
Prove one’s competence
- Display high ability
- Outperform others
- Succeed with little apparent
effort
When they have a setback, they fall apart
