In the present research, a 3 2 model of achievement goals is proposed and tested. The model is rooted in the definition and valence components of competence, and encompasses 6 goal constructs: taskapproach, task-avoidance, self-approach, self-avoidance, other-approach, and other-avoidance. The results from 2 studies provided strong support for the proposed model, most notably the need to separa...

In two studies, college students’ achievement goals were linked to their perceptions of closeness to their parents following an exam. In Study 1, mastery-approach goals positively predicted perceived closeness immediately after an exam, prior to receiving feedback. In Study 2, mastery-approach goals again positively predicted perceived closeness, but performance–avoidance goals interacted with ...

Why do some students avoid seeking help in the classroom when they need it? When students do not seek the help they need, they put themselves at a disadvantage for learning. We discuss how students’ personal motivational characteristics relate to their avoidance of help seeking. In particular, we discuss our work regarding perceived academic and social competence and achievementand social-goal ...

This study examined the relationship between achievement and social goals, and explored how both goals affect students' level of informed self-determination in Physical Education. Participants were 395 high school students. Three scales were used to assess achievement, social goals, and motivation. Several hierarchical regression analyses revealed that mastery-approach goals were the greatest c...

We consider combinatorial avoidance and achievement games based on graph Ramsey theory: The players take turns in coloring still uncolored edges of a graph G, each player being assigned a distinct color, choosing one edge per move. In avoidance games, completing a monochromatic subgraph isomorphic to another graph A leads to immediate defeat or is forbidden and the first player that cannot move...

This study modeled the interrelationships of reading instruction, motivation, engagement, and achievement in two contexts, employing data from 1,159 seventh graders. In the traditional reading/language arts (R/LA) context, all students participated in traditional R/LA instruction. In the intervention R/LA context, 854 students from the full sample received Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (...

BACKGROUND The relationship between defensive pessimism, self-esteem, and achievement goals is a controversial issue. The main contribution of this research is the adoption of a person-centered approach to explore the existence of differentiated profiles of university students, which combine self-esteem and defensive pessimism. In addition, we analyze whether these profiles differ in their achi...

In the present research, we proposed and tested a 2 × 2 standpoints model of achievement goals grounded in the development-demonstration and approach-avoidance distinctions. Three empirical studies are presented. Study 1 provided evidence supporting the structure and psychometric properties of a newly developed measure of the goals of the 2 × 2 standpoints model. Study 2 documented the predicti...