Attribution theory and Achievement motivation

Achievement Motivation
1. Achievement Motivation is “an individual’s motivation to strive for success”
2. Can be instinctive nurtured or situation specific
3. Achievement motivation is the extent to which we approach and welcome challenge and competition, or avoid competitive situations.
4. High need to achieve
  1. Low need to avoid failure
  2. Approach behaviour is adopted
  3. Accept challenges
  4. Demonstrate task persistence and perseverance when task difficult
  5. take risks
  6. welcome feedback
  7. take personal responsibility for actions
  8. try harder after failure so Failure is a route to success which means they Aspire to “mastery orientation”
5. High need to avoid failure
  1. Avoidance behaviour is adopted
  2. Avoidance behaviour is adopted
  3. Avoidance behaviour is adopted
  4. take an easy option, risks are declined
  5. Challenge is rejected
  6. Give up after failure
  7. Success is attributed to internal factors
  8. Failure is attributed internal factors
  9. Failure is seen as a route to further failure
  10. Adopt learned helplessness
Critical evaluation of Achievement mitivation
1. Low achievers are most likely to avoid 50/50 situations. So 50/50 situations are where Low NAF are most anxious in
2. 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.
3. They display approach behaviours and mastery orientation characteristics. The incentive value will be high when the chance of success is evenly balanced.
4. Mastery or Task Goals: Associated with self-improvement (eg,Getting a PB). Most used by athletes
5. Ego or Ability Goals involve comparison against one’s rivals which are most used y non-athletes
Attribution Theory
1. Attributions
  1. affect motivation, which in turn affects future performances, future effort and whether the individual will continue to participate
  2. Young person told they failed because they do not have enough ability to succeed means they are unlikely to try again
  3. If they are told they “need to try harder” they are more likely to continue
  4. Reason people give for success or failure
  5. Two things affect it
    1. Locus of causality
      1. Whether or not the perfromer can control it
      2. Internal are effort and ability
      3. External are task diffuculty and luck
    2. Stability
      1. Will it remain enduring or not
      2. Ability and Task difficulty are STABLE and FIXED during the period of performance.
      3. Effort and luck may change (UNSTABLE) from performance to performance OR within a performance
2. Attribution Retraining
  1. 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
  2. Self serving bias
    1. The tendency of performers to attribute success to themselves
      1. Internal reasons
  3. Learned Helplessness
    1. 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
    2. Failure is inevitable - What they do makes little difference to the outcome - Success might be due to luck and not repeatable
    3. Coach might
      1. 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)

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Attribution theory and Achievement motivation

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	Created by Thomas Marshall about 8 years ago