Goal Orientation Research Articles

A 2x2 achievement goals orientations model in the light of some variables among postgraduate students

The aim of this research is to determine the prevalence of achievement goal orientations among university postgraduate students, how these orientations correlate with their grades, and how they vary based on age, gender, and stage of study. A quantitative descriptive approach was employed, surveying 320 postgraduate students from King Saud University's College of Education. The findings revealed that students had a very high mastery approach orientation, whereas their performance avoidance, performance approach, and mastery avoidance orientations were moderate. There was no significant relationship between academic achievement and performance approach orientation. However, a positive correlation was found between mastery approach orientation and academic achievement, while performance avoidance and mastery avoidance orientations showed significant negative correlations with academic achievement. The study also found that performance approach and performance avoidance orientations did not significantly differ by study stage. Conversely, significant differences were observed in the mastery approach and mastery avoidance orientations, with Ph.D. students demonstrating a higher mastery approach orientation but M.A. students demonstrating a higher mastery avoidance orientation. Male students exhibited higher performance approach and performance avoidance orientations compared to female students, although no gender differences were observed in mastery approach and mastery avoidance orientations. Additionally, older students performed better in performance avoidance orientation when the results were analyzed by age.

People do not always want more: Effects of gains and satisfaction on goal orientation in different age groups

AbstractPast research suggests age-related differences in goal orientation: Whereas younger adults are more likely to orient their goals towards gains and growth, older adults have a stronger orientation towards maintenance and loss avoidance. Three online studies with US participants on MTurk examined the role of gains, losses, and satisfaction for these age-related differences in goal orientation. Studies 1 (N = 179, 20–82 years, 49.2% female) and 2 (N = 241, 18–73 years, 53.1% female) showed that goal orientation was mainly associated with perceived gains and satisfaction with the current state but not with losses: the subjectively experienced accumulation of gains was positively associated with gain, maintenance, and loss-avoidance orientation; higher satisfaction with the status quo was associated with a stronger maintenance orientation and a weaker gain orientation. Subjectively experienced and expected losses were unrelated to goal orientation. Study 3 (N = 611, 18–83 years, 46.7% female) confirmed the causal effect of satisfaction with the current state on gain orientation (but not on maintenance or loss-avoidance orientation) by experimentally manipulating satisfaction with a given status quo. When higher (versus lower) satisfaction was induced, participants were less oriented towards striving for gains. The results suggest that, across age groups, perceived accumulation of gains and satisfaction with the current state impact goal orientation more strongly than losses. This research promotes our understanding of the antecedents of age-related differences in goal orientation and motivational development across adulthood.

Classroom environment and engagement in the EFL writing context: The mediating role of goal orientations

Although second language (L2) engagement has received increasing attention, L2 writing engagement has been rarely investigated. Based on the social-cognitive theory, environmental sources could influence individuals’ motivations which in turn affect their engagement. However, factors contributing to L2 writing engagement have not been thoroughly understood. The present study investigated the associations between three dimensions of classroom environment (teacher support, student cohesion, and task orientation) and L2 writing engagement as well as the mediation roles of mastery and performance approach goals among 721 Chinese learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). Structural equation model analysis suggested that task orientation was the most influential environmental factor; it could not only directly influence EFL writing engagement, but could also indirectly influence it through mastery and performance goals. Teacher support could only indirectly influence engagement through mastery and performance goals. With dimensions of EFL writing engagement disentangled, teacher support negatively predicted agentic engagement but not the other three dimensions. However, mastery and performance goals fully mediated the path from teacher support to behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement. Task orientation had positive effects on all aspects of writing engagement and most of the effects could be carried by the two types of goal orientations. Implications and future directions are also discussed.

Building an evaluation index system of musical collaborative capacity for China’s compulsory music education: Using a combined Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process approach

The latest version of China’s National Compulsory Education Curriculum Programme and Standards 2022 (hereafter CECPS 2022) emphasises the cultivation of students’ collaborative capacities, mentioning ‘ carrying out the core literacy effectively’. From the perspective of music education, this study summarises the requirements for collaborative activities in compulsory courses of the music discipline within CECPS 2022 in the light of Social Interdependence Theory, and builds an Evaluation Index System of Collaborative Capacity (hereafter EISMCC) by employing the Delphi method and an Analytic Hierarchy Process approach. After 3 rounds of expert consultations and revisions, it was found that EISMCC in compulsory music education is comprised of 3 first-level indices, 7 second-level indices and 20 third-level indices. The index framework and the results of the weight distribution with reliable quality reflect the experts’ emphasis on the process, goal orientation and synergistic interaction of collaborative activities in music learning. The whole system considers people’s general understanding of collaborative capacity, the calls within CECPS 2022 for collaborative music activities, and the practical demands of music teaching in compulsory education. This study provides a theoretical basis, a design process paradigm, practical guidance and a valid tool for the evaluation of collaborative capacity in compulsory education.

Mastery performance‐goal orientation objective test: goal orientation profiles

AbstractThe Mastery Performance‐Goal Orientation Test (MP‐GOT) assesses performance‐ and mastery‐orientation along a single bipolar dimension. In Study 1 (n = 198) we explored its psychometric properties and determined whether its results were related to learning. In addition, we employed Latent Profile Analysis to explore goal orientation profiles. In Study 2 (n = 1689) we explored whether goal orientation scores were related to cooperation and whether the goal orientation profiles identified in Study 1 were replicated. In both studies, reliability of the MP‐GOT was high, and a 4‐profile solution was retained. Mastery‐oriented participants tend to obtain higher learning scores (Study 1) and higher cooperation scores (Study 2). MP‐GOT has the potential to be a useful instrument for measuring goal orientation and its relation to relevant behavioral outcomes.

Regional, rural and remote medicine attracts students with a similar approach to learning in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere

ABSTRACT Doctors who work in areas of workforce shortage, such as regional, rural and remote areas or areas of low socioeconomic means need to be more self-motivated, adaptable and self-directed than their metropolitan counterparts. This study aimed to examine the goal orientation and learning characteristics of students recruited into two medical programmes, one from the Northern hemisphere and one from the Southern hemisphere; both with a commitment to producing doctors to practice medicine in rural locations. Three survey tools were administered to 263 medical students: 1. achievement goal orientation survey; 2. learning characteristics survey and 3. the study process questionnaire. Medical students from both cohorts showed a learning goal orientation, which significantly increased with age (P0.007). In terms of learning characteristics, the students from the south had significantly higher scores for curiosity (P0.003), while the northern students had significantly higher scores for methodical (p < 0.001). Both cohorts were similar for adaptability and consciousness. Across the entire student cohort, three of the four learning disposition characteristics were also seen to correlate with learning goal orientation. In both cohorts of medical students deep learning scores exceeded surface learning scores. Selection of students with a learning goal orientation and learning characteristics of curiosity, adaptability and conscientiousness could potentially help students to flourish in rural placement environments.

대학 전공트랙제 기반 융합전공자의 전공적응 지원을 위한 비교과 교육요구 분석: H대학의 제2트랙을 중심으로

Objectives The purpose of this study was to investigate the major adjustment and educational needs of students in convergence majors, and to suggest directions for the operation of educational programs aimed at major adjustment. Methods This study surveyed 83 students in convergence majors at H-University in Seoul, focusing on their major satisfaction, major adjustment, and educational needs for their major. For data analysis, the mean and standard deviation were calculated using the SPSS 22.0 statistical program. In addition, an independent sample t-test and univariate analysis of variance were conducted to confirm differences between groups. Results The results showed that, first, the students in convergence majors were generally satisfied with their major. second, major adjustment to the major track was high, satisfaction with course selection and goal orientation was high, but career decision confidence and support from the academic environment was relatively low. Third, in terms of extra-curricular requirements for adapting to the second major, students would like to have one to two hours of lectures, practical workshops and mentoring during the semester from industry or professional lecturers directly related to the second major. Conclusions The study will contribute to establishing a foundation for improving both curricular and extracurricular offerings for convergence major students.

External Support and Demographic Factors as Differentials of Achievement Goal Orientation among Adolescent Students in Resource-Limited Environments

External Support and Demographic Factors as Differentials of Achievement Goal Orientation among Adolescent Students in Resource-Limited Environments

Unmasking the Impact of First-Generation College Students’ Psychological Capital: A Person-Centered Approach

ABSTRACT FGC students’ determination engenders attitudes that empower them to become resilient academic learners. This study contextualized motivational goal orientations as a form of psychological capital that helped inform FGC students’ self-efficacy and persistence beliefs and fostered adaptive learning strategies. Latent profile analysis with a sample of 324 engineering FGC students was used. Over half of the FGC students sampled have a strong orientation toward developing their understanding of engineering concepts. Most FGC students’ motivational pursuits were driven by a desire to master their difficult engineering coursework. FGC students with high self-efficacy beliefs and intrinsic motivation reported applying deeper learning strategies more than their counterparts.

The impact of social comparison orientation on malicious envy among high school students: The chain mediating role of avoidance goal orientation and negative rumination

The high school stage is a critical period for students to develop their perspectives on life and to form healthy relationships with others. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social comparison orientation and malicious envy among high school students, as well as the mediating effects of avoidance goal orientation and negative rumination. A survey was conducted with 643 high school students, employing the Iowa-Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, the Avoidance Goal Orientation Scale, the Negative Rumination Scale, and the Malicious Envy Scale. The findings indicated that: (1) there is a significant positive association between social comparison orientation, avoidance goal orientation, negative rumination, and malicious envy; (2) social comparison orientation does not directly and significantly predict malicious envy among high school students when avoidance goal orientation and negative rumination are considered as mediating factors; (3) social comparison orientation indirectly affects the negative rumination of high school students through the independent and chain mediating effects of avoidance goal orientation and negative rumination. This research sheds light on the underlying mechanisms by which social comparison orientation influences malicious envy.

Exploring the Interplay between Stress Perception and Approach-Avoidance Achievement Goal Orientation among Rural Students in College: A Longitudinal Study in China.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between stress perception and achievement goals among rural college students in China. Using a two-wave random intercept cross-lagged model, this study analyzed data from a longitudinal survey conducted at 15 public universities in Beijing. First, there was a significant decline in stress levels among Chinese rural students from their junior to senior years. Second, the achievement goal orientations of these students remained relatively stable during the period. Third, while no significant association was found between approach goals and stress perception, a clear positive reciprocal relationship emerged between avoidance goals and stress perception. These results suggest that educators should focus on alleviating the stress experienced by rural college students through academic, employment, and interpersonal support to break the vicious cycle of stress perception and avoidance goal orientation. Future research should further explore the influence of diverse group characteristics and emotional states on these outcomes.

&lt;p&gt;How to Promote Honest Learning Outcomes in Online Education: Understanding Achievement Goal Orientation and Self-Efficacy&lt;/p&gt;

Introduction. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Achievement Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and Academic Dishonesty among college students during online learning. Method. A total of 238 students from students colleges in Indonesia completed an online questionnaire consisting of scales measuring Achievement Goal Orientation, Self-Efficacy, and Academic Dishonesty. The data were then analyzed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results. The results showed a significant relationship between Mastery goal orientation (approach-avoidance) Performance avoidance orientation and Academic Dishonesty. Additionally, a significant relationship was found between Self-Efficacy and Academic Dishonesty, with students who had lower Self-Efficacy being more likely to engage in Academic Dishonesty compared to those with higher Self-Efficacy. Hierarchical regression analysis also revealed that Mastery goal orientation, Performance goal orientation, and Self-Efficacy together predicted Academic Dishonesty in college students during online learning. Discussion and Conclusion. This study concludes that Achievement Goal Orientation and Self-Efficacy are important factors that influence Academic Dishonesty in college students during online learning. These findings may contribute to the development of more effective online learning programs that encourage students to achieve honest and high-quality learning outcomes.

Effectiveness of adjunctive task-centered case work to pharmacotherapy and motivational enhancement therapy among frequently relapsing patients with alcohol dependence syndrome

Background: Individuals experiencing alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) may struggle with relapse due to various factors, even after receiving successful inpatient treatment. While motivation enhancement therapy (MET) and pharmacotherapy are commonly used interventions for ADS, incorporating task-centered casework (TCP) – a nondirective, goal-oriented, and time-limited approach – may yield promising outcomes. Aim: This study examined the effects of adjunctive TCP in conjunction with pharmacotherapy and MET on frequently relapsing patients with ADS. Materials and Methods: This study utilized a case-control design to evaluate the efficacy of combined therapies (pharmacotherapy, MET, and TCP) on 60 male subjects with a diagnosis of ADS and multiple admissions in a tertiary deaddiction center. The participants were divided equally into experimental and control groups, with the experimental group receiving all three therapies and the control group only receiving pharmacotherapy and MET. Both groups maintained their pharmacotherapy regimens throughout the 2-month study period. Assessments were conducted at baseline and the end of the study using various measures, including social–demographic and clinical data, the SAD-Q, ACQ SF-R, SOCRATES-8A, CIWA-Ar, and WHOQOL-BREF Hindi version. Results: The results of the study indicate that the experimental group exhibited a marked decrease in alcohol cravings, an increased willingness to make positive changes, and overall better treatment outcomes and quality of life compared to the control group. In patients with ADS who underwent treatment with MET, TCP, and pharmacotherapy, it was observed that cravings were a significant predictor of their quality of life and readiness to make changes. Conclusions: TCP can be complemented with existing addiction therapies in the treatment of addiction because it has additional advantages in the form of nondirectiveness, goal orientation, time-limitedness, and collaboration between the therapist and the patient. ADS patients can benefit from this therapy by discovering their inert potential and identifying their shortcomings.

Exploring social goal orientations, self‐perceptions and popularity with students attending regular and special education schools

Exploring social goal orientations, self‐perceptions and popularity with students attending regular and special education schools

Summary of Audit Judgment from Auditor Experience, Task Complexity, Professional Skepticism, and Goal Orientation

The goal of this study was to gather empirical evidence about the effects of auditor experience, task complexity, professional scepticism, and goal orientation on audit judgement. This study's population and sample included 35 respondents, all of whom worked as auditors for the South Sumatra Inspectorate. Questionnaires on a Likert scale of 1 to 5 were distributed directly to auditors to collect data. The data is analysed using Structural Equation Modelling using Partial Least Squares (PLS) and SmartPLS 4.0. The findings of this study revealed that auditor experience and professional scepticism have a favourable and significant effect on audit judgement. Meanwhile, task complexity and goal orientation have a positive but not statistically significant effect on audit judgement. Additionally, auditor experience, task complexity, professional scepticism and goal orientation influence audit judgement at the Inspectorate of South Sumatra Province by 50.6%.

The Effects of Teacher Characteristics on Achievement Goal Orientation in the Elementary to Middle School Transition : Longitudinal Mediating Effects of Mindset

The Effects of Teacher Characteristics on Achievement Goal Orientation in the Elementary to Middle School Transition : Longitudinal Mediating Effects of Mindset

Student Gender and Support by Compassion International Influences Achievement Goal Orientation among Adolescents in South-western Uganda

Student Gender and Support by Compassion International Influences Achievement Goal Orientation among Adolescents in South-western Uganda

Equal Employment and the Promotion of College Students' Job Preparation Behavior: The Impact of Social Support and Goal Orientation

Equal Employment and the Promotion of College Students' Job Preparation Behavior: The Impact of Social Support and Goal Orientation

Factors influencing career adaptation: The positive effects of mastery goal orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy

In the highly competitive employment environment, most college students have left their jobs for a short time after employment, and attention should be paid to students’ career adaptation. However, the further influence of skilled goal orientation, social support and career-determined self-efficacy on college students’ career adaptation needs to be confirmed. This study analyzes the effects of these factors on college students’ career adaptation. This study aims to analyze the impact of mastery goal orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy on career adaptation among 224 university students in East China. The results indicated that university students generally exhibit positive levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and overall career adaptation. Female students demonstrate higher levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation compared to male students. As students progress in their academic years, their levels of mastery goal orientation, social support, vocational decision self-efficacy, and career adaptation tend to increase. Students majoring in humanities and social sciences have higher level than students majoring in science and engineering in all factors. Students majoring in humanities and social sciences exhibit more optimism in all factors compared to students in science and technology fields. The relationships among these factors show positive correlations. Mastery goal orientation, social support, and vocational decision self-efficacy all have positive effects on career adaptation. Among these, family support stands out as the most influential subordinate factor of social support on career adaptation. The most influential subordinate factor of vocational decision self-efficacy on career adaptation is conscious decision-making. Therefore, male, lower grade, science and engineering college students are the groups that need to be paid attention to in improving career adaptation. Skilled goal orientation, family support and conscious decision making have a better effect on the improvement of career adaptation. These results can provide important reference information for universities, counselors and college students in the training of career planning, and theoretically enrich the relevant research on college students’ career adaptation, and provide certain enlightenment for future researchers.

Approximating the ZPD? Young children's judgements of appropriate task level for learning.

This research examined how 3-6-year-olds judge appropriate levels of counting games based on a person's ability, desire for learning and degree of difficulty. Study 1 found that 3-year-olds did not consider a character's ability or desire, whereas older children gave high ability characters large number games and low ability characters small number games when the characters wanted to play a manageable game. However, older children gave large number games to characters who wanted to learn counting, regardless of their ability. In Study 2, in addition to a similar developmental change of jointly considering a character's ability and desire, it was found that 5-and 6-year-olds were more sensitive to the degree of difficulty. They were more careful than younger children to choose exceedingly large number games given the character's ability and desire. Implications for children's understanding of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and goal orientation are discussed.