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ABSTRACT: Motivational processes influence a child's information about the situation. Although external con-
acquisition, transfer, and use of knowledge and skills, yet tingencies and internal affective states are by no means
educationally relevant conceptions of motivation have been ignored, they are seen as part of a process whose workings
elusive. Using recent research within the social-cognitive are best penetrated by focusing on organizing cognitive
framework, Dweck describes adaptive and maladaptive variables.
motivational patterns and presents a research-based model Specifically, the social-cognitive approach has al-
of motivational processes. This model shows how the par- lowed us to (a) characterize adaptive and maladaptive
ticular goals children pursue on cognitive tasks shape their patterns, (b) explain them in terms of specific underlying
reactions to success and failure and influence the quality processes, and thus (c) begin to provide a rigorous con-
of their cognitive performance. Dweck argues that this ceptual and empirical basis for intervention and practice.
approach has important implications for practice and the
design of interventions to change maladaptive motiva- Adaptive and Maladaptive
tional processes. She presents a compelling proposal for Motivational Patterns
explaining motivational influences on gender differences The study of motivation deals with the causes of goal-
in mathematics achievement and observes that empirically oriented activity (Atkinson, 1964; Beck, 1983; Dollard
based interventions may prevent current achievement dis- & Miller, 1950; Hull, 1943; Veroff, 1969). Achievement
crepancies.--The Editors motivation involves a particular class of goals--those in-
volving competence--and these goals appear to fall into
two classes: (a) learning goals, in which individuals seek
Most research on effective learning and performance of to increase their competence, to understand or master
cognitive tasks analyzes the particular cognitive skills re- something new, and (b) performance goals, in which in-
quired to succeed at those tasks. In contrast, the focus dividuals seek to gain favorable judgments of their com-
here is on motivational processes that affect success on petence or avoid negative judgments of their competence
cognitive tasks. That is, the focus is on psychological fac- (Dweck & Elliott, 1983; NichoUs, 1984; Nicholls &
tors, other than ability, that determine how effectively the Dweck, 1979). l
individual acquires and uses skills. Adaptive motivational patterns are those that pro-
It has long been known that factors other than ability mote the establishment, maintenance, and attainment of
influence whether children seek or avoid challenges, personally challenging and personally valued achievement
whether they persist or withdraw in the face of difficulty, goals. Maladaptive patterns, then, are associated with a
and whether they use and develop their skills effectively. failure to establish reasonable, valued goals, to maintain
However, the components and bases of adaptive moti- effective striving toward those goals, or, ultimately, to at-
vational patterns have been poorly understood. As a re- tain valued goals that are potentially within one's reach.
suit, commonsense analyses have been limited and have Research has clearly documented adaptive and mal-
not provided a basis for effective practices. Indeed, many adaptive patterns of achievement behavior. The adaptive
"commonsense" beliefs have been called into question ("mastery-oriented") pattern is characterized by challenge
or seriously qualified by recent research--for example, seeking and high, effective persistence in the face of ob-
the belief that large amounts of praise and success will stacles. Children displaying this pattern appear to enjoy
establish, maintain, or reinstate adaptive patterns, or that exerting effort in the pursuit of task mastery. In contrast,
"brighter" children have more adaptive patterns and thus the maladaptive ("helpless") pattern is characterized by
are more likely to choose personally challenging tasks or challenge avoidance and low persistence in the face of
to persist in the face of difficulty. difficulty. Children displaying this pattern tend to evidence
In the past 10 to 15 years a dramatic change has negative affect (such as anxiety) and negative self-cogni-
taken place in the study of motivation. This change has
resulted in a coherent, replicable, and educationally rel- Correspondenceconcerningthis article shouldbe addressedto CarolS.
evant body of findings--and in a clearer understanding Dweck,Departmentof Psychology,UniversityofIllinois, 603 E. Daniel,
of motivational phenomena. During this time, the em- Champaign, IL 61820.
phasis has shifted to a social-cognitive approachwaway
from external contingencies, on the one hand, and global, l The wordperformancewill be used in severalways,not only in
connection with performancegoals. It will alsobe used to refer to the
internal states on the other. It has shifted to an emphasis child's task activity(performanceof a task) and to the product of that
on cognitive mediators, that is, to how children construe activity (levelof performance). The meaning should be clear from the
the situation, interpret events in the situation, and process context.
tions when they confront obstacles (e.g., Ames, 1984; C. effort. Further, this research shows how a focus on ability
Diener & Dweck, 1978, 1980; Dweck & Reppucci, 1973; judgments can result in a tendency to avoid and withdraw
Nicholls, 1975). from challenge, whereas a focus on progress through effort
Although children displaying the different patterns creates a tendency to seek and be energized by challenge.
do not differ in intellectual ability, these patterns can have Although relatively few studies as yet have explicitly
profound effects on cognitive performance. In experi- induced and compared (or measured and compared)
ments conducted in both laboratory and classroom set- learning versus performance goals (see M. Bandura &
tings, it has been shown that children with the maladaptive Dweck, 1985; Elliott & Dweck, 1985; FarreU & Dweck,
pattern are seriously hampered in the acquisition and 1985; Leggett, 1985, 1986), many have manipulated the
display of cognitive skills when they meet obstacles. Chil- salience and value of performance goals, and hence the
dren with the adaptive pattern, by contrast, seem un- relative value of the two types of goals. This has been done,
daunted or even seem to have their performance facili- for example, by instituting a competitive versus individual
tated by the increased challenge. reward structure (e.g., Ames, 1984; Ames, Ames, & Felker,
If not ability, then what are the bases of these pat- 1977), by varying the alleged diagnosticity of the task vis
terns? Most recently, research has suggested that children's vis important abilities (e.g., Nicholls, 1975), by intro-
goals in achievement situations differentially foster the ducing an audience or evaluator versus allowing the in-
two patterns. That is, achievement situations afford a dividual to perform privately or focusing his or her atten-
choice of goals, and the one the child preferentially adopts tion on the task (e.g., Brockner & Hulton, 1978; Carver
predicts the achievement pattern that child will display. & Scheier, 1981; E. Diener & SruU, 1979), and by pre-
Table 1 summarizes the conceptualization that is senting the task with "test" instructions versus "game" or
emerging from the research. BasieaUy, children's theories neutral instructions (e.g., Entin & Raynor, 1973; Lekarczyk
of intelligence appear to orient them toward different & Hill, 1969; McCoy, 1965; Sarason, 1972).
goals: Children who believe intelligence is a fixed trait Taken together, the results suggest that highlighting
tend to orient toward gaining favorable judgments of that performance goals relative to learning goals can have the
trait (performance goals), whereas children who believe following effects on achievement behavior.
intelligence is a malleable quality tend to orient toward
developing that quality (learning goals). The goals then Goals and Task Choice
appear to set up the different behavior patterns. 2
Appropriately challenging tasks are often the ones that
Learning and Performance Goals Contrasted are best for utilizing and increasing one's abilities. Recent
research has shown that performance goals work against
How and why do the different goals foster the different the pursuit of challenge by requiring that children's per-
patterns? How do they shape task choice and task pursuit ceptions of their ability be high (and remain high) before
to facilitate or impede cognitive performance? The re- the children will desire a challenging task (M. Bandura
search reviewed below indicates that with performance & Dweck, 1985; Elliott & Dweck, 1985). That is, if the
goals, the entire task choice and pursuit process is built goal is to obtain a favorable judgment of ability, then
around children's concerns about their ability level. In children need to be certain their ability is high before
contrast, with learning goals the choice and pursuit pro- displaying it for judgment. Otherwise, they will choose
cesses involve a focus on progress and mastery through tasks that conceal their ability or protect it from negative
evaluation. For example, when oriented toward perfor-
2 See M. Bandura and Dweck (1985), Dweck and Elliott (1983), mance goals, individuals with low assessments of their
and Leggett (1985) for a more extensive treatment of children's theories
of intelligence. The present article will focus on achievement goals and ability are often found to choose personally easy tasks on
their allied behavior patterns. which success is ensured or excessively difficult ones on
O c t o b e r 1986 9 A m e r i c a n P s y c h o l o g i s t 1047
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