Stability and change in achievement goals.

Abstract

The present research examined the nature of stability and change in achievement goal endorsement over time, using 4 complementary data-analytic approaches (differential continuity, mean-level change, individual-level change, and ipsative continuity). Three longitudinal studies were conducted in college classrooms; in each study, achievement goals were assessed prior to a series of 3 course examinations. All 3 studies yielded evidence for consistent patterns of both stability and change in each achievement goal under consideration. Fear of failure was linked to greater change in individuals' achievement goal clusters over time. Implications of the present findings for understanding the important and overlooked issue of achievement goal stability and change are discussed.

Examining self-efficacy during learning: variability and relations to behavior, performance, and learning

“…Sixty percent of learners' reported at least one reliable change in self-efficacy over the duration of the task, and 38 % showed two or three reliable changes. Because the degree of reliable change observed across self-efficacy judgments is similar to prior studies acknowledging intra-individual change in motivational variables (Bernacki 2014;Fryer and Elliot 2007;Muis and Edwards 2009), we conclude that our findings indicate that learners' self-efficacy varied reliably over observations within a single learning task. Thus we continued with analyses examining the sources that may predict changes in efficacy and whether efficacy judgments predicted future learning processes or outcomes.…”

“…These analyses include assessments of differential continuity (i.e., degree of correlation between an individual's reports over multiple observations), mean-level change (i.e., differences in the mean-level of efficacy for the sample across observations), and individual-level change (i.e., percent of individuals who report a change in efficacy that exceeds a level associated with measurement error). To date, these methods have been used to examine motivational constructs like achievement goals over a semester of classroom learning (Fryer and Elliot 2007;Muis and Edwards 2009) and over a series of technology-enhanced learning tasks (Bernacki et al 2014). These types of analyses confirm that motivation varies across learning tasks (i.e., psychology exams and assignments; math units), but they have yet to be conducted with observations of motivation within a single learning task.…”

“…We conclude that at the level of the sample mean, self-efficacy scores did not differ from one time point to the next. As noted in prior analyses of stability and change, non-significant levels of mean-level change can be obtained due to a lack of variability at the individual level, or to variability that includes equal amounts of increase and decrease which offset and result in a net change equivalent to zero, which masks variability within individuals' scores (Fryer and Elliot 2007;Muis and Edwards 2009). We explored individual level change to make this determination.…”

“…We examined variation in self-efficacy for math problems with a common set of analyses used to assess stability and change in psychological constructs (Caspi et al 2005;Muis and Edwards 2009;Fryer and Elliot 2007). These include examinations of differential continuity in the construct, mean-level change over time, and an analysis of reliable change within individuals over time.…”

Moving the Achievement Goal Approach One Step Forward: Toward a Systematic Examination of the Autonomous and Controlled Reasons Underlying Achievement Goals

“…For instance, a learner who feels pressured by excessively high expectations of her parents to outperform peers on tests may more easily experience test anxiety (Vansteenkiste, Smeets et al, 2010), which would lower the threshold for turning toward avoidance-based goals. Feedback during goal pursuit may moderate this effect, with controlled regulations of achievement goals in particular eliciting goal switching when obstacles toward goal progress or attainment are encountered (see also Fryer & Elliot, 2007).…”