Sex differences in goal orientation in adolescents aged 10–19: The older boys adopt work-avoidant goals twice as often as girls

Abstract

This study investigated sex differences in goal orientation during adolescence. 910 adolescents aged 10–19years read vignettes of students reflecting four goal orientations and indicated which student they resembled most. Boys and girls from two age-groups (10–14 versus 14–19years old) were compared. Multinomial logistic regression was performed with goal orientation as dependent variable, including level of parental education as a covariate. Results showed that girls were more likely than boys to endorse mastery goals (48% vs 39%) or performance-avoidant goals (20% vs 14%). Boys more often endorsed work-avoidant or performance-approach goals. At age 14–19years, work-avoidance was more than twice as common for boys as girls (27% vs 12%). With age, mastery goals decreased (from 52% to 36%), whereas work-avoidant goals increased (from 8% to 18%). These age and sex differences in goal orientations may be a possible explanation for boys' lower academic achievement compared to girls' and show a need for early intervention.