ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION ACROSS CULTURES

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ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION ACROSS CULTURES
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LECTURE OUTLINE

• I Background
• II Western conceptualizations of achievement
  motivation
• A. What is it?
• B. How is it measured?
• C. How does it vary?
• D. What causes it?

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LECTURE OUTLINE

• III An indigenous view Yang Yu
• A. IOAM and SOAM
• B. Measurement
• C. Correlates
• IV Kiasu-ism Achievement motivation gone wrong?
• A. Definition and hypothesized correlates
• 1. Need for achievement
• 2. Competitiveness
• 3. Individualism
• 4. Uncertainty avoidance

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LECTURE OUTLINE

• B. Measurement and correlates (Ho Munro)
• C. Behavioural study of kiasu-ism
• V Conclusions

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Need for achievement (N ach) An intrinsic
motivation to achieve individually determined
task-oriented objectives
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THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
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EDWARDS PERSONAL PREFERENCE SCHEDULE

• I like to stick to a job or problem even when it
  may seem as if I am not getting anywhere with it.
• When I have some assignment to do, I like to
  start it and keep working on it until it is
  completed.

• I feel that the pain and misery I have suffered
  has done me more good than harm.
• I like to help people who are less fortunate than
  I am.

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EDWARDS PERSONAL PREFERENCE SCHEDULE

• I like to help other people who are less
  fortunate than I am.
• I like to talk about my achievements.

• I like to finish any task or job that I begin.
• I like to listen to or tell jokes in which sex
  plays a major part.

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Culture and Achievement Motivation
Culture -gt Child-rearing practices -gt Personality
-gt Achievement-oriented Society McClelland
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An Alternative View
The most frequently leveled criticisms are that
McClellands framework neglects the importance
of social and/or inter- personal factors as
contextual conditions in defining the concept of
achievement motivation, and that it does not do
justice to achievement in culturally distinctive
non-Western societies, especially those with a
collectivist orientation. McClellands theory and
method, because of their neglect of
socio-contextual factors, have obvious
limitations, even when applied intra-culturally.
Their unsuitability is much more evident when
they are adapted in cross-cultural research,
especially in subjects from Oriental
societies, such as China and Japan.
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An Alternative View
Previous research using people from collectively
oriented Chinese and Japanese societies has
repeatedly attested to the fact that their
achievement motivation patterns are strikingly
different from those of Western peoples and
cannot be adequately understood in terms of
McClellands highly individualistic concept of
achievement motives. Yang
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IOAM AND SOAM
Individually Oriented Achievement Motivation and
Socially Oriented Achievement Motivation differ
in Goals, Behaviours, Outcomes, Consequences
and Overall Characteristics
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SOAM IOAM

• Standard of excellence and incentive value of
  goal attainment mainly defined by others in
  membership groups
• Means of goal attainment mainly approved by
  others

• Standard of excellence and incentive value of
  goal attainment mainly defined by self
• Means of goal attainment mainly determined by self

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SOAM IOAM

• Dependence on others help in pursuit of
  achievement
• Outcome evaluations made by others

• More reliance on ones own ability and effort in
  pursuit of achievement
• Accomplishments evaluated by self

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SOAM IOAM

• Positive or negative reinforcement given by
  others
• Motivation high in social instrumentality and low
  in self instrumentality

• Positive or negative reinforcement given by self
  as result of outcome evaluation
• Motivation high in functional autonomy

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MEASURES OF SOAM AND IOAM

• I try to reach standards set by my teachers when
  I am doing my homework.
• If I dont do well in school, I couldnt face my
  family and relatives.
• I work hard to reach the standards my parents
  have set for me.

• I try to do my best if I consider the task to be
  valuable to me
• I would try to figure out different ways of
  solving a problem rather than asking for help.
• I evaluate my performance based on my own
  expectations and standards.

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Correlates of IOAM and SOAM

• IOAM, not SOAM, correlates with nAch on EPPS
• SOAM correlates with face saving and social
  skills
• IOAM correlates with work effectiveness
• Those high in SOAM are more likely to consider
  family interests and welfare in job choice
• Those high in IOAM more likely to consider the
  development of personal potential

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KIASU
Fear of losing out (Hokkien) An indigenous
Singaporean construct?
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Correlates of Kiasu

• N ach
• Competitiveness
• Individualism
• Uncertainty Avoidance

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Components of Kiasu (Ho Munro)

• GREED
• Eat your moneys worth of food.
• Rush to be the first one to get food at a buffet.
• MONEY CONSCIOUSNESS
• Go through a lot of trouble just to get something
  cheap.
• Collect discount coupons to use.

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Components of Kiasu (Ho Munro)

• BEING NUMBER ONE
• Try to be ahead of others in everything and
  anything.
• Try to outdo everyone you know..
• PREVENTING OTHERS FROM WINNING
• Keep vital information from your classmates.

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Components of Kiasu (Ho Munro)

• RUSHING
• Speed up when driving if the traffic light turns
  orange.
• Keep changing lanes when driving because the cars
  in front of you are too slow.
• VALUE FOR MONEY
• Going shopping on tour because things are so
  cheap.
• Take as many photographs as possible when on tour.

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EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF KIASU (Ramakrishnan)

• Independent Variables
• Resource Scarcity
• Trait anxiety
• Dependent Variable
• Kiasu behaviour Arrival time

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Kiasu Behaviour as a Function of Resource
Scarcity and Anxiety

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QUESTIONS

• Is kiasu a meaningful construct in NZ?
• Would NZers be higher or lower in kiasu than
  Singaporeans?