Friday, 18 October 2013

Psychology: Achievement Motivation (Competitiveness)

McClelland - Atkinson model (1976)
Based on the combination of two personality constructs:

  1. Need to achieve (Nach): the capacity to experience pride or satisfaction in accomplishment
  2. Need to avoid failure (Naf): the capacity to experience shame or humiliation in defeat
Both Nach and Naf motivate us to try harder and we all possess both characteristics - in varying degrees...

High achievers (high Nach low Naf)
See success as important & seek out challenging situations. They strive hard for success without worrying about failure.

Low achievers (low Nach high Naf)
Worry about failure more than striving for success - success would be nice but they prefer to avoid failure & the anxiety associated with achievement situations.

High achiever characteristics:

  • persistent
  • seek challenge
  • similar ability opponents
  • confident
  • congratulate themselves when win
  • failure leads to them asking themselves how they can improve
  • enjoy feedback
  • focus on performance
How can coaches develop "Approach Behaviour"

  • positive experiences
  • gradually increasing task difficulty
  • goal setting
  • use positive feedback and praise/support from significant others
  • reduce punishment
  • encourage risk taking
  • use attributions correctly
  • develop high levels of self efficacy/avoid learned helplessness
Goal orientation
Outcome (competitive) - focuses on comparing performance against & defeating others. The problem with this is we cannot control others performance. This can result in reduced motivation even when personal performance is good.
Task (mastery) - focuses on comparing performance with personal standards & improvement. This makes success easier to achieve & to feel good about themselves, therefore improving motivation. Therefore task orientation is recommended.

Situational factors

  1. Probability of success (task difficulty)
  2. Incentive value of success (how rewarding the success is to the performer)
Inversely proportional - when one is high the other is low.
Situational component: highest when 50% chance of success.

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