Social Demonstration-approach Goals Research Articles

How do Social Achievement Goals Affect Early Adolescents’ Academic Engagement? The Role of Feeling Stressed and Lonely

Research has established the significance of social achievement goals in shaping adolescents’ academic engagement. However, the precise mechanisms underpinning this connection remain incomplete. In two studies involving U.S. middle school students (Study 1 N = 212, Study 2 N = 318), we explored the relationship between social achievement goals, academic adjustment, and the mediating role of social distress and loneliness. High social development goals related to reduced social stress and loneliness, leading to enhanced classroom engagement. In contrast, social demonstration-avoidance goals were linked to elevated loneliness and stress, resulting in diminished classroom engagement. While the mediation effect was unclear for social demonstration-approach goals, they exhibited direct associations with unfavorable classroom engagement indicators. These findings illuminate the intricate dynamics between social achievement goals and academic engagement among early adolescents, emphasizing the role of social distress and loneliness in shaping their classroom experience.

Development and Validation of Online Social Achievement Goals Questionnaire for College Students

An accurate assessment of online social achievement goals requires a new measure, tailored to the unique nature of online social contexts. Using the data collected from 366 U.S. college students, the online Social Achievement Goals Questionnaire (oSAGQ) was developed and validated. The oSAGQ includes three types of social achievement goals: Online social development, online social demonstration-approach, and online social demonstration-avoidance goals. Strong construct validity evidence was obtained through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The oSAGQ showed strong psychometric properties, including high reliability and strong item discrimination index. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that online social achievement goals were empirically distinguishable from in-person goal constructs. Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that online social achievement goals had explained unique variance in online prosocial and antisocial behaviors after controlling for in-person social achievement goals. Both online and in-person social development goals were positively related to online prosocial behavior. However, the effect of in-person social demonstration-approach goals on online antisocial behavior disappeared once online counterpart was entered in the model, suggesting the superior predictive power of online social demonstration-approach goals for online antisocial behavior. Future research topics using oSAGQ were suggested.

대학생의 절차에 대한 개인적 공정세상신념과 낯선 사람 및 친구에 대한 친사회적 행동의 관계: 사회적 증명-접근 목표와 사회적 증명-회피 목표의 조절효과

대학생의 절차에 대한 개인적 공정세상신념과 낯선 사람 및 친구에 대한 친사회적 행동의 관계: 사회적 증명-접근 목표와 사회적 증명-회피 목표의 조절효과

Early Adolescents' Social Achievement Goals and Perceived Relational Support: Their Additive and Interactive Effects on Social Behavior.

The current study examined the additive and interactive effects of early adolescents’ social achievement goals and perceived relational support from teachers and peers on their social behavior. Adolescents’ social achievement goals (i.e., social development, social demonstration-approach, and social demonstration-avoidance), perceived relational support from teachers and peers, and social behavior (i.e., overt and relational aggression, prosocial behavior, and anxious solitary behavior) were assessed in a sample of fifth and sixth graders (Mage = 12.5; N = 677) nested within 26 classrooms. Multilevel modeling results indicated that social goals and relational support from teachers and peers made additive contributions to adolescents’ social behavior. Results also indicated the evidence of interactive effects, such that relational support from teachers was negatively associated with overt and relational aggression primarily among adolescents who had high social demonstration-approach goals. Findings underscore the need to consider adolescents’ social goals in conjunction with their perceived relational support for educators and practitioners.

Social Achievement Goals and Academic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Academic and Social Positive Emotions

Background: Social-cognitive theorists suggest that cognitive-emotional factors play essential roles in academic outputs like academic engagement. Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between social achievement goals and academic engagement by mediating role of academic and social positive emotions. Methods: The method of present study was descriptive cross-sectional study based on correlational research. Using cluster multi-stage sampling method, this study included 566 undergraduate students (278 male and 288 female) in the first semester of 2018. The research instruments were Social Achievement Goals scale, Academic Hope scale, Admiration scale, and Academic Engagement inventory. Data were analyzed using correlation matrix and structural equation modeling. Results: Results of analyzing data showed that social development goal had a positive indirect effect (β = 0.41, P = 0.01) on academic engagement through academic hope and admiration. Also, social demonstration-approach goal had an indirect and negative effect (β = -0.08, P = 0.01) on academic engagement by the mediating role of admiration. Finally, the research model was able to explain 31% of the variance of academic engagement with two latent variables of social achievement goals and academic and social positive emotions. Conclusions: In general, social achievement goals and positive emotions significantly explained the variance of academic engagement. The findings provide supportive evidence for how motivations and emotions can affect academic engagement.

Gendered Pathways to Bullying Perpetration via Social Achievement Goals – Mediating Effects of Sense of Belonging and Non-inclusive Group Norms

ABSTRACTThis study investigated the gender-specific effects of social achievement goals – i.e., social development goals, social demonstration approach goals, and social demonstration avoid goals – on bullying perpetration in a sample of 788 adolescents (53.3% girls), taking into account the mediating role of sense of belonging and non-inclusive group norms. Two-group structural equation modeling results indicated that social demonstration approach goals positively predicted bullying perpetration for both genders. For girls, higher social development goals and for boys, higher social avoidance goals decreased bullying perpetration. Gender-specific effects of belonging and non-inclusive group norms on bullying perpetration occurred. For boys, non-inclusive group norms mediated the relation between all social achievement goals and bullying perpetration. Implications for future research and (gender-sensitive) bullying interventions are discussed.

Validation of the Korean version of social achievement goals for adolescents: paths from social achievement goals through social behaviour to social adjustment

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study is to translate and validate the Korean version of the social achievement goals scale, which is known to be a significant variable in predicting social behaviour and social adjustments. There were 133 seventh grade middle school students (male = 64, female = 69) who took part in Study 1, and 425 seventh to eighth grade middle school students (male = 293, female = 132) who participated in Study 2. Explanatory factor analysis of Study 1 revealed that the Korean version of the social achievement goals scale consists of three factors (i.e., social development, demonstration approach, and demonstration avoid goals) with six items for each. Confirmatory factor analysis of Study 2 confirmed the three-factor structure. Latent mean analysis revealed that girls endorsed a higher level of the social development goal, while boys endorsed a higher level of the social demonstration approach goal than girls. No difference was found for the social demonstration avoid goal. The test of criterion-related validity revealed that the social development goal indirectly predicted perceived popularity through prosocial behaviour. The social demonstration approach goal positively predicted aggressive behaviour and perceived popularity, while the social demonstration avoid goal negatively predicted both of them. Taken together, we found that the social achievement goals framework is also applicable to Korean adolescents in the same way as Western samples.

Early adolescents’ social goals and school adjustment

What are the common types of social goals endorsed by early adolescents and how are they related to their school adjustment? This article discusses the importance of assessing students’ social goals during the early adolescent developmental period when peers become increasingly important and youth experience tremendous changes to the school context as they transition to middle school. Commonly endorsed social goals particularly relevant to this developmental period and to youth’s social and academic adjustment at school are discussed, including: social status goals (i.e., the goal for popularity and the goal for peer preference); agentic and communal goals; and social achievement goals (i.e., social development goal, social demonstration-approach goal, and social demonstration-avoidance goal). This conceptual review presents research linking social goals to different markers of school adjustment in both the social domain (e.g., aggressive behavior, social worry) and the academic domain (e.g., effort in the classroom, grade point average). A summary of which social goals are related to indices of positive school adjustment is presented. Implications for educators and recommendations for future research on early adolescents’ social goals are discussed.

College Students’ Social Goals and Psychological Adjustment: Mediation via Emotion Regulation

University life can be stressful and students may struggle to adjust socially. We examined students’ social achievement goals—their orientations towards their relationships with their peers—as one important factor underlying students’ social and psychological adjustment in college. When investigating the direct and indirect effects of social achievement goals on psychological adjustment (i.e., life satisfaction, depression, stress, and worry), the mediating role of emotion regulation was examined. Data were collected from students attending a university in China (N = 1,242, 35% male). The widely adopted three-factor structure of social achievement goals (i.e., social development goals, social demonstration-approach goals, social demonstration-avoidance goals) was confirmed to fit the data among Chinese college students. The results show the direct and indirect benefits of endorsing a social development goal. Augmented emotion regulation mediated the effect of social development goals. The total effects of a social demonstration-approach goal were weak, but the goal indirectly impaired students’ psychological adjustment via reduced emotion regulation. Endorsing a social demonstration-avoidance goal tended to compromise psychological adjustment and the effects were mediated through reduced emotion regulation. Implications for supporting students’ adjustment to college are discussed.

Social achievement goals, needs satisfaction, and coping among adolescents

Ιn a sample of Turkish adolescents (N=1614), we investigated whether pursuing social demonstration-approach goals (to attain popularity), next to social development goals (to cultivate meaningful relationships), explains differences in need satisfaction and frustration and coping. Cluster analysis showed that students who favored social development over social demonstration-approach goals reported less need frustration and defensive coping than students who favored both goals. These results were replicated with a prospective analysis with part of the initial sample (N=425) as students who endorsed both goals reported more defensive coping five months later than students who mainly favored social development goals over social demonstration-approach goals.

Influence of social motivation, self-perception of social efficacy and normative adjustment in the peer setting.

The first objective of this study was to adapt and test the psychometric properties of the Social Achievement Goal Scale (Ryan & Shim, 2006) in Spanish adolescent students. The second objective sought to analyse the influence of social goals, normative adjustment and self-perception of social efficacy on social adjustment among peers. A total of 492 adolescents (54.1% females) attending secondary school (12-17 years; M = 13.8, SD = 1.16) participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were performed. The validation confirmed the three-factor structure of the original scale: social development goals, social demonstration-approach goals and social demonstration-avoidance goals. The structural equation model indicated that social development goals and normative adjustment have a direct bearing on social adjustment, whereas the social demonstration-approach goals (popularity) and self-perception of social efficacy with peers and teachers exert an indirect influence. The Spanish version of the Social Achievement Goal Scale (Ryan & Shim, 2006) yielded optimal psychometric properties. Having a positive motivational pattern, engaging in norm-adjusted behaviours and perceiving social efficacy with peers is essential to improving the quality of interpersonal relationships.

Academic and social achievement goals: Their additive, interactive, and specialized effects on school functioning.

Students' pursuit of academic and social goals has implications for school functioning. However, studies on academic and social achievement goals have been relatively independent and mainly conducted with students in culturally Western settings. Guided by multiple-goal perspectives, this study examined the role of academic and social achievement goals in outcome variables relevant to academic (achievement, effort/persistence), social (peer relationship satisfaction, loneliness), and socio-academic (cooperative learning, competitive learning, socially regulated, and self-regulated learning) functioning. A total of 356 Indonesian high-school students (mean age=16years; 36% girls) participated in the study. A self-report survey comprising items drawn from pre-existing instruments was administered to measure distinct dimensions of achievement goals and outcomes under focus. Regression analysis was performed to examine additive, interactive, and specialized effects of achievement goals on outcomes. Aligned with the hierarchical model of goal relationships (Wentzel, 2000, Contemp. Educ. Psychol., 25, 105), academic and social achievement goals bore additive effects on most outcomes. Findings also revealed a specialized effect on academic achievement and notable interactive effects on cooperative learning. In general, mastery-approach and performance-approach goals were more adaptive than their avoidance counterparts. The effects of social development goals were positive, whereas those of social demonstration-approach goals were mixed. Contrary to prior findings, social demonstration-avoidance goals did not appear to be inimical for school functioning. Findings underscore the importance of both academic and social achievement goals in day-to-day school functioning and the need to consider the meaning of goals and the coordination of multiple goals from cultural lenses.

Emotional well-being: The role of social achievement goals and self-esteem

The current study examined how self-esteem and social achievement goals affect individuals’ emotions independently and jointly using the data collected from 367college students. Social development goals were related to positive emotions (i.e., love and joy). Social demonstration-avoid goals were related to maladaptive patterns (low levels of joy but high levels of fear, shame and sadness). Social demonstration-approach goals were positively associated with joy but had null relations with all other emotions. The results indicated that social development goals buffered students with low self-esteem against negative emotions and amplified the positive emotional experiences. In contrast, social demonstration-avoid goals were especially harmful for students with low self-esteem.

Classroom goal structures, social achievement goals, and adjustment in middle school

The current study investigated the mediating role of social achievement goals in the relation between classroom goal structures and academic engagement and social adjustment among 373 middle school students (52.8% female). Students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures were measured in Fall; social achievement goals and academic and social outcomes were measured in Spring. Structural equation modeling analysis confirmed that social achievement goals partially mediated the effects of perceived classroom goal structures on academic and social outcomes. Perceived classroom mastery goal structure predicted social development goals positively but social demonstration-approach goals negatively. Perceived classroom performance goal structure positively predicted social demonstration-approach and avoid goals. Subsequently, social development goals were related to adaptive outcomes (e.g., academic engagement and social satisfaction) while social demonstration-approach goals predicted negative outcomes (e.g., disruptive behaviors and social worry). Interestingly, social demonstration-avoid goals predicted high social worry but low disruptive behaviors. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

What do students want socially when they arrive at college? Implications of social achievement goals for social behaviors and adjustment during the first semester of college

This study investigated if the social achievement goals that students endorsed at the beginning of their freshman year were associated with social behaviors and adjustment 6 months later (N = 276; 52% female). Students were recruited from a residential hall and Resident Advisors provided multi-dimensional assessments of students’ social behaviors. A social development goal (a focus on improving social skills and relationships) promoted adjustment, indicated by a positive association with overall social competence. A social demonstration-avoid goal (a focus on avoiding negative judgments) hindered adjustment, indicated by negative associations with overall social competence, popularity and prosocial behavior and positive associations with anxious and internalizing behavior. A social demonstration-approach goal (a focus on gaining positive judgments) had benefits, as shown by positive associations with overall social competence and popularity, and negative associations with anxious behavior, but also drawbacks for adjustment, as shown by a positive association with aggression.

How do Young Adolescents Cope With Social Problems? An Examination of Social Goals, Coping With Friends, and Social Adjustment

This study investigated individual differences in sixth-grade students (N = 181; 47% girls, ethnically diverse) use of friends as a coping resource when dealing with a social stressor with another peer at school. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the hypothesized three factor structure of coping with friends: mastery, avoidance, and nonchalance. Controlling for levels of social self-efficacy, social goal orientations were linked to different types of coping. Specifically, a social development goal was positively associated with mastery coping. A social demonstration-avoid goal was positively associated with avoidance coping. A social demonstration-approach goal was positively associated with nonchalance coping. In turn, individual differences in coping were associated with subsequent social adjustment (measured 3 months later). Specifically, mastery coping was associated with best friendship quality, avoidance coping was associated with anxious solitude, and nonchalance coping was associated with overt aggression.

Help-seeking tendencies during early adolescence: An examination of motivational correlates and consequences for achievement

The present study examined the motivational correlates and achievement consequences of students’ help-seeking tendencies during sixth grade ( N = 217). Students’ grades were collected from school records at the beginning and end of the school year. Midway through the year students reported on their academic self-efficacy and social demonstration goals; teachers reported on students’ help-seeking tendencies. First quarter grades and academic self-efficacy were positively related to adaptive help seeking and negatively related to avoidant help seeking. In addition, a social demonstration-approach goal was negatively related to adaptive help seeking. Help-seeking tendencies predicted 3rd quarter grades, controlling for 1st quarter grades.

Social Achievement Goals: The Nature and Consequences of Different Orientations Toward Social Competence

The proposition that achievement goals are applicable to the social domain was examined in four studies. Study 1 established that different orientations toward developing or demonstrating social competence can be seen in individuals' responses to open-ended questions about their social goals and social competence. Studies 2 through 4 evaluated a new survey measure of social achievement goals. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the hypothesized model of social achievement goals. Convergent and discriminant validity for the new measure of social achievement goals was established. In line with hypotheses, a social development goal was associated with adjustment and a social demonstration-avoid goal was associated with maladjustment both concurrently and longitudinally. A social development goal also was positively related to instructor ratings of students' social adjustment in small classroom settings. A social demonstration-approach goal was most often unrelated to adjustment. The importance of social achievement goals for a comprehensive understanding of social motivation and adjustment is discussed.