Examining Achievement Goal Endorsement and Adaptiveness in Gifted and Typical Students

• In Event: 72.017 - Studies in Student Motivation: Goals, Efficacy, and Belonging

Abstract

Motivation theorists continue to debate the adaptive nature of performance-approach goals (i.e., desire to demonstrate competence). The current study investigated functioning of performance-approach, performance-avoidance, and mastery goals based on three potential moderators: student type (gifted status), context (subject domain), and outcome (achievement, engagement, and disengagement) among 361 gifted and typical 6th-8th grade students. Gifted and typical students did not differ in mean-level goal endorsement or goal functioning. Similarly, mastery and performance-avoidance goals displayed similar associations to outcomes in mathematics and social studies. Performance-approach goals, however, were beneficial for outcomes in mathematics but not social studies. Findings suggest a continued need to investigate nuances when considering performance-approach goals.

Authors

• Stephanie V. Wormington, Michigan State University

• Kate E. Snyder, University of Louisville