Self-handicapping is a maladaptive strategy that students employ to protect their self-image when they fear or anticipate academic failure. Instead of increasing their effort, students may harm their chances of success by procrastinating, strategically withdrawing effort, or engaging in destructive behaviors like drug abuse, so that potential…

This study compared the effects of being in different tracks during the first 3 years of secondary education on student academic performance. A sample of a longitudinal cohort study in Flanders (3,205 students in 46 schools) was used to describe the learning gains for mathematics and reading comprehension. Four tracks were distinguished, with a…

A key question about achievement motivation is how to maintain it over time and in the face of stress and adversity. The present research examines how a motivational process triggered by a social-psychological intervention propagates benefits over a long period of time and creates an enduring shift in the way people interpret subsequent adversity.…

This longitudinal study draws on positive youth development frameworks and ecological models to examine the role of school-, home- and community-based arts participation in students' academic (e.g., motivation, engagement) and nonacademic (e.g., self-esteem, life satisfaction) outcomes. The study is based on 643 elementary and high school students…

Adaptability is defined as appropriate cognitive, behavioral, and/or affective adjustment in the face of uncertainty and novelty. Building on prior measurement work demonstrating the psychometric properties of an adaptability construct, the present study investigates dispositional predictors (personality, implicit theories) of adaptability, and…

On the basis of self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2000), the authors examined whether 2 different types of introjected motivation--an avoidant type aimed at avoiding low self-worth and an approach type aimed at attaining high self-worth--are both associated with a less positive pattern of correlates relative to identified…

Achievement patterns of tenth grade females of above average intelligence revealed a significant difference between the grades of achievers and underachievers, beginning at grade 6. Other-direction and attitudes toward women were significantly related to mathematical achievement test scores and high school grades. (Author/BH)

Five studies were conducted to determine if college students employ different conceptions of ability in self-referenced (task-involving) and interpersonally competitive (ego-involving) situations. Competence and positive affects were associated with higher effort in task-involving situations but negatively associated with higher effort in…

The extent to which motivation/attribution variables explain self-confidence in learning mathematics (SCLM) and whether students make attributions for their successes/failures in mathematics were studied, using 489 seventh graders. Attributional style, effort as a mediator of ability, failure as an acceptable phase in learning mathematics, and…

Fifth-grade boys of relatively good, average, and poor reading ability were assessed on tasks in which success and failure were manipulated. Consistent with predictions, poor readers displayed characteristics indicative of learned helplessness and low self-concepts of ability, including low expectations and less persistence. (Instructional…

A theory of motivation based upon attributions of causality for success and failure is offered. Three central causal dimensions are identified: stability, locus, and control; these dimensions, respectively, are linked with expectancy change, esteem-related emotions, and interpersonal judgments. A theory of motivation with implications for…