ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION
I. Achievement Motivation
1. the desire to accomplish something
2. the desire to reach a standard of excellence
3. the desire to expend effort to excel
4. to promote achievement motivation parents must:
a. set high standards for achievement
b. model such behavior
c. reward achievement
II. Extrinsic Motivation
The child or teen is motivated to do something by external incentives (the receiving of
rewards or the avoiding of punishments)
III. Intrinsic Motivation
The child or teen is motivated to do something for the satisfaction of doing it or the
feeling of competence that doing it brings. It is based on internal factors such as
determination, curiosity, challenge and effort.
IV. Helpless vs. Mastery Orientation (the way that one thinks about intelligence)
Helpless Mastery
1. attribute difficulty to a lack of ability 1. attribute difficulty to lack of effort
2. have higher anxiety 2. have lower anxiety
3. are threatened by difficult tasks 3. are challenged by difficult tasks
4. they focus on personal inadequacies 4. they focus on the process of learning
and this may undermine their performance and are concerned about learning strategies
Some students may have a performance orientation which involves focusing on outcomes rather
than process. Winning is what is important to them and they believe that happiness comes from
winning.