Achievement
Motivation is “an
individual’s motivation
to strive for success”
Can be
instinctive
nurtured or
situation
specific
Achievement motivation is the
extent to which we approach and
welcome challenge and
competition, or avoid competitive
situations.
High need to achieve
Low need
to avoid
failure
Approach
behaviour is
adopted
Accept challenges
Demonstrate task
persistence and
perseverance when task
difficult
take risks
welcome feedback
take
personal
responsibility
for
actions
try harder after
failure so Failure is a
route to success
which means they
Aspire to “mastery
orientation”
High need to avoid failure
Avoidance
behaviour is
adopted
Avoidance
behaviour is
adopted
Avoidance
behaviour
is
adopted
take an easy option,
risks are declined
Challenge is rejected
Give up after failure
Success is
attributed
to internal
factors
Failure is attributed
internal factors
Failure is seen as
a route to further
failure
Adopt learned
helplessness
Critical evaluation of Achievement mitivation
Low achievers are most likely to avoid 50/50
situations. So 50/50 situations are where Low
NAF are most anxious in
The theory best predicted behavioural
responses in situations where there is a
50/50 chance of success. This situation is
most likely to trigger the motivation to
achieve in performers with high
achievement traits.
They display approach behaviours
and mastery orientation
characteristics. The incentive value
will be high when the chance of
success is evenly balanced.
Mastery or Task Goals:
Associated with
self-improvement
(eg,Getting a PB). Most
used by athletes
Ego or Ability
Goals involve
comparison
against one’s
rivals which are
most used y
non-athletes
Attribution Theory
Attributions
affect motivation, which
in turn affects future
performances, future
effort and whether the
individual will continue
to participate
Young person told they failed
because they do not have enough
ability to succeed means they are
unlikely to try again
If they are told they “need to
try harder” they are more
likely to continue
Reason people give
for success or
failure
Two things affect it
Locus of causality
Whether or not
the perfromer
can control it
Internal are effort
and ability
External are
task
diffuculty
and luck
Stability
Will it
remain
enduring or
not
Ability and
Task difficulty
are STABLE
and FIXED
during the
period of
performance.
Effort and luck may
change (UNSTABLE)
from performance to
performance OR
within a performance
Attribution Retraining
Attribution theory is important in
sport because it affects future effort
If we think that reasons for success
are stable and we are accountable for
them, we will have the confidence
and continue to improve. If you
believe that reasons for failure are
changeable, you can change the
future results and influence the
performance
Self serving bias
The tendency of
performers to attribute
success to themselves
Internal reasons
Learned Helplessness
Redefine success where ability is the
reason for failure Acknowledge the
need to change attributions
(attribution retraining) to those
appropriate to high achievers If the
performer is a low achiever, learn how
to attribute success and failure to the
same reasons given by high achievers
Be aware that low achievers often
suffer from Learned Helplessness
Failure is inevitable -
What they do makes
little difference to
the outcome -
Success might be
due to luck and not
repeatable
Coach might
Change in tactics or blame
equipment, adopt a positive
approach, make the reasons for
losing less personal, avoid citing
lack of ability as a reason for
failure, use positive feedback and
positive reinforcement, encourage
a change of technique, attribute
success internally (effort/ability)
and failure externally (luck/task
difficulty)