An adjusted measure of achievement motivation for males and females and effects of future orientation on level of performance

Abstract

An adjusted measure of achievement motivation was devised with the combined use of the Mehrabian Achievement Scale ( Educational and Psychological Measurement, 1968 , 28, 493–502) and the Mandler and Sarason ( Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1952 , 47, 166–173) Test Anxiety Questionnaire. Contingent instructions, in which Ss were told success on a test was necessary to qualify for opportunities to succeed on subsequent tests, were contrasted to performance in equivalent noncontingent situations and relative to adjusted achievement motivation for both male and female subjects. In noncontingent situations Ss were told performance on any one test did not affect their opportunity to take subsequent tests. Support was obtained for the use of the above mentioned scales as a predictor of performance for both sexes but not for the Mehrabian by itself. Both male and female Ss high in achievement motivation consistently scored significantly higher than Ss low in achievement motivation in all conditions. The expected interactions between treatments and motive groups were not found but t tests between extreme motive groups within conditions revealed significant differences in the expected directions. These results do not provide statistically reliable support to the elaborated theory of achievement motivation.