Abstract
Achievement goal theorists propose that both situational factors and individual differences influence which type of achievement goals individuals adopt. That is, instructions can be used to make a situation task-involving or ego-involving, but individuals also have dispositional tendencies to approach achievement tasks with task and/or ego orientations. In this experiment we investigated the independent and interactive effects of situational and dispositional achievement goals on performance. College students performed a brainstorming task after receiving neutral, task-involving, or ego-involving instructions. General task and ego orientations toward achievement tasks were assessed before the students tried the task, and perceived ability was assessed after a practice trial. Consistent with the predictions of achievement goal theorists, perceived ability was more strongly related to performance when students were given ego-involving rather than task-involving instructions. In addition, task orientation was more strongly related to performance when task-involving rather than ego-involving instructions were given. The results demonstrate that dispositional and situational factors may interact to predict performance.
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