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PubMed · 9216083

Avoidance achievement motivation: a personal goals analysis.

A J Elliot·K M Sheldon
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Abstract

The present research investigated one antecedent and various consequences of pursuing avoidance personal achievement goals over the course of a semester. The authors assessed participants' achievement-relevant goals using the newly devised Achievement Goals Questionnaire. The motive to avoid failure, assessed with self-report and projective measures, was established as an antecedent of avoidance goal pursuit. Avoidance regulation was shown to have deleterious consequences for a host of achievement-relevant and general well-being outcomes at the end of the semester, including longitudinal change in subjective well-being. Perceived competence was validated as a mediator of the direct relationships observed. The results highlight the need to attend to avoidance, as well as approach, forms of self-regulation and the need to consider both motive disposition and goal constructs in accounting for competence-relevant behavior.

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AchievementAdolescentAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedMotivationPersonal SatisfactionSelf ConceptSurveys and QuestionnairesJournal Article

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A J Elliot, K M Sheldon. 1997. Avoidance achievement motivation: a personal goals analysis.. https://doi.org/10.1037/%2F0022-3514.73.1.171

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