Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Thompson, Ted
• Davidson, John A
• Barber, James G
• Levin, Joel R

Titel

Self-Worth Protection in Achievement Motivation: Performance Effects and Attributional Behavior

Ist Teil von

• Journal of educational psychology, 1995-12, Vol.87 (4), p.598-610

Ort / Verlag

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

Erscheinungsjahr

1995

Quelle

EBSCOhost APA PsycARTICLES

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Two experiments tested central assumptions of the self-worth theory of achievement motivation. This theory states that certain students, known as self-worth protective students, will voluntarily withdraw effort in achievement situations in which poor performance is likely to be attributed to low ability. Thereby, a sense of self-worth is protected. Self-worth theory also states that these students will perform well in situations in which a mitigating excuse allows poor performance to be attributed to a factor that is unrelated to ability. Experiment 1 confirmed that self-worth protective students perform well following failure that allows a face-saving opportunity but perform poorly following failure that does not allow face-saving. The results of Experiment 2 confirmed that the poor performance of self-worth protective students following failure is associated with a lesser tendency to assume personal responsibility for failure. These findings are discussed in terms of strategies for modifying the achievement-limiting behaviors of self-worth protective students.