Part 1: What is Achievement Motivation?

• What is Achievement Motivation?

  • Striving towards excellence or attempting to reach/achieve a specific goal (e.g., personal best in competition)
  • Person will persist in the face of failure, and experience pride in goal accomplishment
  • → Achievement motivation in sport is popularly called competitiveness.
• What is Achievement Motivation?

  • Specific goal to accomplish
  • eg personal best time 
  • Is measurable 
  • If don’t achieve, keep trying (persist)
  • However, winning = just a tiny part of the complete picture 
• What is Achievement Motivation?

  • Motivation = most broad, achievement motivation less broad; in centre = competition 
  • Being evaluated by self & others 
  • Competition is achievement motivation, but also has someone else that is evaluating you, not just yourself 
  • Competition an important part of achievement motivation (more specific)
• What is Achievement Motivation?

  • 30% achieve PB in Olympics, bc/ pressure may get to them 
  • Don’t want to fail 
  • One cause of stress & anxiety is to focus on things out of your control to reduce focus on things that are in your control 
  • Can win & still not reach your goal
• Defining the Achievement Situation

  • "A measurable performance for which the individual is responsible, which can & will be evaluated in terms of a standard of excellence (by self or others), where there is uncertainty in outcome (success/failure)
  • Standard able to be measured, & can evaluate self (& sometimes others as well)
  • Outcome matters to you 
  • Avoiding failure &/or succeeding
• Measuring Achievement Motivation 

  1. Direction - motives, goals, goal orientations
  2. Intensity  - arousal / activation levels
  3. Persistence - direction + intensity overtime
• Measuring Achievement Motivation 

  • Direction - motives, goals, goal orientations
  • Goals bring with you
  • Goal orientations = part of persons personality 
  • Goals oriented towards
• Measuring Achievement Motivation

  • Intensity - arousal / activation levels
  • Physically & mentally in present time of performance 
  • Persistence - direction + intensity over-time
  • Commitment = motivation overtime
• Why Study Achievement Motivation?

  • Individual differences in achievement motivation affect participation & performance in sport/exercise
  • When/if choose to participate & their level of performance 
  • Amount of motivation put in (can vary)
  • Achievement motivation is the basis of competitiveness  (eg, influences stress & anxiety) 
  • May cause you to choke
• Why Study Achievement Motivation?

  • Gives you a lot of information 
  • [‘Need Achievement Theory’ not including this theory in SPEX 204]
  • Need Achievement Theory not expected to know (even tho in required reading