Achievement Motivation and Attribution Theory.

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Achievement Motivation and Attribution Theory.

• Mr. P. Leighton
• St Marys 6th Form College.

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After todays session

• You will have a deep understanding of Achievement
  Motivation which includes
• NAF and NAch.
• Competitiveness.
• Learned Helplessness.
• You should also understand Attribution theory
  which includes
• Weiners Attribution Model.
• Attribution retraining.

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Achievement Motivation.

• Links Personality with the degree of
  competitiveness shown by an individual.
• How motivated are you to succeed?
• Is achievement motivation linked with nature or
  nurture?
• Murray (1938) indicated that it is only natural
  for one to want to surpass another (Nature).
• Bandura (1977) however, believed competitiveness
  is a product of learning (Nurture).

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Interactionists and Achievement Motivation.

• Atkinson and McClelland (1976) predicted that
  motivation is generated through a combination of
  personality and situational factors, These are
• Probability of success The likelihood of
  success- when a task is easy or done before.
• Incentive value of success The intrinsic value
  experienced after success. If the task is harder
  the greater incentive valueWhy?

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NAch and NaF

• Need to Avoid Failure.
• (Low Nach/High Naf)
• The fear of failure far outweighs the desire to
  succeed.
• Referred to as low achievers.

• Need to Achieve.
• (Low Naf/High Nach)
• The desire of success far outweighs the fear of
  failure.
• Referred to as high achievers.

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Task (5mins)

• Turn to page 209 and copy down the Diagram and
  table noting some of the characteristics of NAF
  and NAch performers.
• Turn over and copy down the key terms.

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Atkinson and McClelland Continued

• 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.
• Q What about those with low achievement traits?
  Write a statement to describe this

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What are the problems with Achievement Motivation
Theory?

• What is success to you?
• Success can be interpreted in several different
  ways
• Success over other people Ego Goal Orientation-
  Beating someone in a race.
• Personal Improvement Task Orientation-
  performance and process goals i.e. Achieving a
  personal best.
• Achievement Motivation within sport should be
  referred to as Competitiveness.

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Competitiveness.

• The motivation to achieve in sport.
• Gill and Deeter (1988) confirmed that Athletes
  are far more competitive than non athletes.
• However, Athletes favoured performance goals
  (Task Orientation) whereas the non-athletes
  preferred the importance of winning (Ego
  Orientation).

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Attribution Theory.

• What do you attribute your success to?
• Weiner (1971) saw that there were two areas which
  affect our attribution levels.
• The Locus of Causality- internal or external
  factors.
• Stability- Stable and un-changeable/ Unstable is
  temporary i.e. Luck.
• Control is also mentioned and is a key factor in
  attribution retraining.

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Weiners attribution model Reasons for Failure
and Success.

• Coaches should attribute failure to external
  factors- why?
• External factors are changeable and not under
  control of the performer its not their fault!
• This helps maintain self-esteem and motivation
  i.e. he was lucky to beat you.

• Coaches should attribute success to internal
  factors- why?
• Internal factors mean that the performer is able
  to succeed because of their talents.
• This endorses future expectations of high
  achievement.

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Work for you

• Copy down notes from pages 213-215 paying
  attention to
• Attribution bias
• Attribution retraining
• Mastery orientation
• Learned helplessness