Integration in the Achievement Motivation Literature and the Hierarchical Model of Achievement Motivation

Abstract

Integration is a valuable yet underutilized process in scientific literatures, including the achievement motivation literature. In this piece, we advocate for and illustrate the benefits of giving integration a central place within the achievement motivation literature. We pay particular attention to the hierarchical model of achievement motivation that is explicitly and intensively integrative in nature. We believe that this hierarchical model may be used as a theoretical foundation from which to organize and bring together the many different constructs and concepts in the extant literature. We further believe that the most important contributions to the literature in the next decade and beyond will be integrative-bringing together what is currently separate to form a more complete and comprehensive whole. Keywords Integration • Achievement motivation • Hierarchical model • Achievement goal complexThe achievement motivation literature has a long and laudable history. Many different explanatory constructs have been proffered over the years, including needs/ motives, expectancies/perceptions, values, implicit theories, goals, attributions, emotions, and intelligence/ability (see the table of contents of the Handbook of Competence and Motivation; Elliot & Dweck, 2005, p. xiii, where these are identified as the "central constructs" in the achievement motivation literature). Theoretical and empirical work on these constructs has borne considerable fruit, yielding a This article is part of the Topical Collection on Hybridizing Motivational Strains.

Socio‐economic status, mastery‐approach goals and learning‐related outcomes: Mediation and moderation

“…Among the different achievement goals, mastery‐approach goals are regarded as the most adaptive. Students who endorse mastery‐approach goals accrue a highly positive set of outcomes, including higher levels of academic achievement, perceived competence and intrinsic motivation (Elliot & Thrash, 2001; Huang, 2011, 2016; Hulleman et al., 2010).…”

“…Achievement goals pertain to ‘aims that focus on competence’ (Elliot & Murayama, 2008, p. 614). They create a framework through which individuals construe experience and invest themselves in achievement‐relevant situations (Elliot & Thrash, 2001). One of the core ideas of the achievement goal approach to achievement motivation is that goals can be distinguished in terms of how students define competence.…”

“…Mastery‐focused students define competence in terms of how they are doing relative to task demands or their prior performance (e.g., do better than I have done before), while performance‐focused students define competence in terms of how they are doing relative to others (e.g., do better than my classmates; Dweck, 1986). One of the most prominent achievement goal models—the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework (Elliot & Murayama, 2008; Elliot & Thrash, 2001)–crosses these definitions of competence with approach and avoidance motivation, yielding four types of goals: mastery‐approach, performance‐approach, performance‐avoidance and mastery‐avoidance.…”

Do I want this job? Integrating research across psychological subfields to examine how individuals think about perceived values during career decision making.

“…There is overlap across the main ideas of situated expectancy-value theory, social–cognitive career theory, and many specific perspectives in social psychology around goals and values. There have been important theoretical integration attempts, mostly in social psychology, to synthesize perspectives on motivation and decision making and create broad theories (e.g., Ajzen & Kruglanski, 2019; Dweck, 2017; Elliot & Sommet, 2023; Kruglanski et al, 2014). Integrating the organizational psychology literature into this work and applying it to the career context is an important future direction.…”

Social Mobility and Motivational Payoff: Achievement Motivation Is More Important in Students’ Performance and Well-Being in Cultures With High Versus Low Social Mobility

“…These students may work hard to focus on their performance to avoid failing, although they tend to have negative attitudes toward learning (Busato et al, 2000;Conroy & Elliot, 2004). In contrast, extensive research has shown that mastery-oriented goals are associated with more positive attitudes toward learning and adaptive learning strategies (Elliot & Sommet, 2023;Finney et al, 2004;Harackiewicz et al, 2002).…”