Early Childhood Experiences and Women's Achievement Motives

Abstract

Research findings in child development are reviewed to shed light on female achievement motives. It is suggested that females have high needs for affiliation which influence their achievement motives and behavior, sometimes enhancing and sometimes blocking them. Since girls as compared to boys have less encouragement for independence, more parental protectiveness, less pressure for establishing an identity separate from the mother, and less mother‐child conflict which highlights this separation, they engage in less independent exploration of their environments. As a result they develop neither adequate skills nor confidence but continue to be dependent upon others. Thus while boys learn effectance through mastery, the effectiveness of girls is contingent on elicting the help of others. Affective relationships are paramount in females and much of their achievement behavior is motivated by a desire to please. If achievement threatens affiliation, performance may be sacrificed or anxiety may result.

Sex differences in math performance: The role of children's approach to schoolwork.

“…To explore this issue, the current research focused on sex differences in how children approach schoolwork. Consistent with theory and research suggesting that girls are more likely than boys to approach their schoolwork in a manner that enhances their grades (e.g., Campbell & Eaton, 1999;Higgins, 1991;Hoffman, 1972;Pomerantz & Ruble, 1998a), the findings of the current research suggest that sex differences in children's achievement goals and disruptive classroom behavior influence their learning strategies, which underlie the sex difference in grades. However, girls' edge over boys does not appear to extend to performance on achievement tests, despite the fact that how children approach schoolwork and their ensuing use of learning strategies also predict achievement test scores.…”

Trends in women’s participation at the meetings of the Association for Behavior Analysis: 1975–2005

“…Gender differences in occupations, for instance, are correlated with genderbased socialization practices (Daly, 1996;Hoffman, 1972;Vetter, 1992). Research in early childhood shows that parents and caregivers typically socialize children in accord with the child's gender.…”

The role of moderating factors in user technology acceptance

“…First, men are more ''pragmatic'' than women. Compared to women, men are more task-oriented (Minton and Schneider, 1980) and motivated by achievement needs (Hoffman, 1972). This is directly related to usefulness perception.…”