MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS, GOALS AND STYLES

MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS, GOALS AND STYLES Damon Burton University of Idaho

GOAL MODEL OF MOTIVATION (Antecedents) (Consequences) Beliefs about Motivational Talent Goals Styles • Capacity Outcome Success- & Failure-Oriented • Learning Process Mastery or Performance Oriented

BELIEFS ABOUT TALENT & INTELLIGENCE • Capacity beliefs – intelligence and sport ability are fixed and unchangeable. • The worst thing is to look dumb or incompetent • Talent is measured now and far into the future. • Learning beliefs – intelligence and talent are changeable and controllable. • The worst thing is to not learn. • Talent is measured for the present but not for the future.

ROLE OF EFFORT IN TALENT BELIEFS • Capacity beliefs– high ability means you shouldn’t have to work hard. • They feel smart when others struggle. • They perceive a negative relationship between effort and performance. • Learning beliefs– hard work always is necessary to reach your potential. • They feel smart when they help others or bring out the best in others. • They perceive a positive relationship between effort and performance. • Effort will get your somewhere better as long as you work hard.

BELIEFS-GOAL RELATIONSHIPS Outcome Goals Outcome Goals Performance Goals Low Challenge High Challenge High Challenge Capacity 50% 32% 18% Learning 10% 29% 61%

BELIEFS PREDICT JUNIOR HIGH TRANSITION • 7th grade important transition that is stressful to adolescents because • work gets suddenly harder, • workload becomes greater, • grading is more stringent, • grades become more important and • instruction is less personalized.

IMPACT OF BELIEFS ON FAILURE RESPONSES Learning Capacity Depressed Group GroupGroup Global Self-Putdown 2 7 6 Intellectual Blame 3 8 7 Negative Affect 4 8 8.5

HOW ARE BELIEFS DEVELOPED? • Feedback patterns have a major impact on beliefs. • If feedback focuses on traits (e.g., you’re very talented) to explain success or lack of talent to explain failure, capacity beliefs develop. • If feedback focuses on effort and strategy as the keys to success and failure, learning beliefs develop

WHAT ARE MOTIVATIONAL STYLES? Motivational Styles – are specific motivational patterns adopted by performers based on their beliefs about talent, how they define success/failure (i.e., place highest priority on outcome versus process/performance goals) and perceived competence. These motivational patterns have a profound impact of Flow, long-term development and performance.

MOTIVATIONAL STYLES mastery-oriented success-seekers or success-oriented failure-avoiders or failure-oriented

MASTERY-ORIENTED (MO) Process and performance goals are given highest priority in defining success. They feel successful when they learn, improve and master tasks. Perceived competence doesn’t influence MO performers as long as they believe they can learn and get better.

FAILURE AVOIDERS (FA) Outcome goals are given highest priority in defining success. They feel successful when they win and socially compare well. FAs normally have low perceived competence because they lose often. Motivation eventually switches from striving for success to trying to avoid failure.

SUCCESS-SEEKERS (SS) Outcome goals are given highest priority in defining success. They feel successful when they win and socially compare well. FAs normally have high perceived competence because they win or place high often.

MASTERY-ORIENTED Outlook about Competition – positive and optimistic Attributions for Success – effort Attributions for Failure – effort Effort Expenditure – consistently maximal effort, Task Choice – very difficult tasks or opponents, and Response to Failure – great persistence that prompts increases effort and improves problem solving

FAILURE-AVOIDERS Outlook about Competition – negative and pessimistic, Attributions for Success – luck or an easy task, Attributions for Failure – lack of ability, Effort Expenditure – low on moderate difficulty task and high on easy tasks, Task Choice – very easy or very difficult tasks or opponents, and Response to Failure – give up quickly and quit trying; will drop out if they can.

SUCCESS-SEEKERS Outlook about Competition – positive and optimistic, Attributions for Success – high ability, Attributions for Failure – effort, Effort Expenditure – just high enough effort to win, Task Choice – moderately difficult tasks, and Response to Failure – moderate persistence as long as they think they can win, prompting increased effort and improved problem solving

WHAT IS AN ATTRIBUTION? Attributions – are reasons given to explain successes and failures. Weiner (1985)suggests that we each act as naïve psychologists trying to understand the reasons for why a particular outcome occurs. For example, a girl may try to figure out why she lost a tennis match or did poorly on an exam.

WHY ARE ATTRIBUTIONS IMPORTANT? • Motivational is cyclical in nature. How you do in one competition influences your motivation for future competitions. • KEY POINT Two factors are important for determining future motivation. • consistent success at challenging tasks, • taking credit for your success due to factors you control such as effort and skill,

WEINER’S (1972) ATTRIBUTION MODEL External Internal Task Difficulty Coaching Stable Ability Effort Strategy Preparation Performance Luck Officiating Unstable

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MOTIVATIONAL BELIEFS, GOALS AND STYLES