Intrinsic motivation in competition: The intervening role of four individual differences following objective competence information

Abstract

The individual differences of need for achievement, anxiety (plus resultant achievement motivation), locus of control, and gender were explored to determine their intervening role in intrinsic motivational processes following objective competence information. In two experiments, participants were either allowed to win or were made to lose a puzzle-solving contest against a same-gender confederate with the success/failure experience via the competitive outcome serving as the objective source of competence information. In Experiment 1, outcome, locus of control, and the resultant achievement motivation × outcome interaction predicted level of intrinsic motivation, thereby substantiating the claim that individual differences are important in the prediction of intrinsic motivation. Experiment 2 tested the impact of each individual difference on intrinsic motivation-relevant moderating processes (performance expectancy, actual and perceived performance, and affect) to highlight the processes by which individual differences function to impact level of intrinsic motivation. It was shown that need for achievement affected level of intrinsic motivation through the high achievers' favorably biased performance expectancy and heightened positive affect, and, after losing, through both a favorable actual and perceived performance relative to low achievers, High anxiety impacted level of intrinsic motivation by depreciating performance expectancy and actual performance relative to low levels of anxiety. For locus of control, internals showed a higher level of intrinsic motivation than externals via a more favorable performance expectancy and, after winning, via greater positive affect and a more successful perceived performance appraisal.