Does Priming for Mastery Goals Improve the Performance of Students with an Entity View of Ability?

Autor/inn/en	Thompson, Ted; Musket, Sarah
Titel	Does Priming for Mastery Goals Improve the Performance of Students with an Entity View of Ability?
Quelle	In: British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75 (2005) 3, S.391-409 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0007-0998
DOI	10.1348/000709904X22700
Schlagwörter	Feedback; Anxiety; Goal Orientation; Self Concept; Mastery Learning; Academic Ability; Social Influences; Comparative Analysis + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Angst; Zielorientierung; Zielvorstellung; Selbstkonzept; Sozialer Einfluss
Abstract	Background: There is evidence that an entity view of ability (where ability is viewed as a fixed entity that cannot be changed) is linked with social comparison goals and poor performance. On the other hand, an incremental view of ability (where ability is viewed as an acquirable skill) is linked with a mastery goal orientation and positive achievement outcomes. On these bases, the present study sought evidence that priming students with an entity view of ability to pursue mastery goals would result in improved performance. Sample: Participants were 48 students with an entity view of ability, and 48 students with an incremental view of ability. Method: We used a 2 (views of ability: entity, incremental) ? 2 (performance feedback: success, failure) ? 2 (goal priming: mastery, social comparison) between-subjects factorial design to examine the effects of goal priming on performance for students with either an incremental or entity view of ability following either success or failure feedback. Prior to, and following, performance feedback, participants completed parallel measures of state anxiety. Participants were then primed for either social comparison goals prior to attempting to solve 16 Unicursal (tracing puzzle) tasks. Their performance on a subsequent set of Unicursal tasks was then examined. Finally participants completed a State Goals Scale assessing their degree of endorsement of social comparison/mastery goals whilst working on the Unicursal tasks. Results: The performance of students with an incremental view of ability was comparable irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success and failure feedback and irrespective of whether they were primed for mastery or social comparison goals. However the performance of students with an entity view of ability improved when they were primed for mastery relative to social comparison goals irrespective of whether they were initially exposed to success or failure. Conclusions: These findings confirm theiting consequences of social comparison goals for participants with an entity view of ability, suggesting benefits in encouraging these students to pursue mastery goals. (Author).
Anmerkungen	The British Psychological Society, St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road, East Leicester, LE1 7DR UK. Tel: 0116-254-9568.
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10