The current research sought to extend the 2 × 2 achievement goal framework by developing and testing the Achievement Goals for Research Scale (AGRS). Participants (N = 317) consisted of graduate students in the life, physical, and behavioral sciences. A principal components analysis (PCA) extracted five components accounting for 72.59% of the variance in the data. Additional confirmatory factor analytic testing yielded support for a 6-factor model in which the performance factor was bifurcated into approach and avoidance components. The final solution comprised the following 6 subscales: (a) absolute task mastery goals; (b) incremental task mastery goals; (c) mastery avoidance goals; (d) performance approach goals; (e) performance avoidance goals; and (f) self-demonstration of competence goals. The 6-factor model was found to outperform alternative 5-, 3-, and 2-factor models. Preliminary evidence of convergent and discriminant validity was evidenced by way of relations with measures of academic achievement motivation, behavioral inhibition/activation sensitivity, fear of failure, self-handicapping, and decisional procrastination. Future research directions and implications for career assessment and achievement goal theory are discussed.
Ames, C. ( 1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation . Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 261-271.
2.
Ames, C., & Archer, J. ( 1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 260-267.
3.
Arbona, C. ( 2000). The development of academic achievement in school-aged children: Precursors to career development. In S. D. Brown & R. W. Lent (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (3rd ed., pp. 270-309). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Baranik, L.E., Barron, K.E., & Finney, S.J. ( 2007). Measuring goal orientation in a work domain: Construct validity evidence for the 2 x 2 framework. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 67, 697-718.
6.
Barron, K.E., & Harackiewicz, J.M. (2001). Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 706-722.
7.
Berkman, E.T., Lieberman, M.D., & Gable, S.L. ( 2009). BIS, BAS, and response conflict: Testing predictions of the revised reinforcement sensitivity theory. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 586-591.
8.
Boardman, S.K., Harrington, C.C., & Horowitz, S.V. (1987). Successful women: A psychological investigation of family class and education origins. In B. A. Gutek & L. Larwood (Eds.), Women’s career development (pp. 66-85). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
9.
Bouckenooghe, D., Vanderheyden, K., Mestdagh, S., & Van Laethem, S. (2007). Cognitive motivation correlates of coping style in decisional conflict. The Journal of Psychology , 141, 605-625.
10.
Carver, C.S., & White, T.L. ( 1994). Behavioral inhibition, behavioral activation, and affective responses to impending reward and punishment: The BIS/BAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 319-333.
11.
Christophersen, K., & Rand, P. ( 1982). Factor structure of the achievement motives scale (AMS): Two factors-Two samples. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 26, 13-28.
12.
Cokley, K.O., Bernard, N., Cunningham, D., & Motoike, J. ( 2001). A psychometric investigation of the Academic Motivation Scale using a United States sample. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 34, 109-119.
13.
Cury, F., Elliot, A.J., Da Fonseca, D., & Moller, A.C. ( 2006). The social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 666-679.
14.
Dahme, G., Jungnickel, D., & Rathje, H. ( 1993). Psychometric properties of a German translation of the achievement motives scale (AMS): Comparison of results from Norwegian and German samples. Diagnostica, 39, 257-270.
15.
Deci, E.L., & Ryan, R.M. ( 1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum Press .
16.
Deemer, E.D., Martens, M.P., Haase, R.F., & Jome, L.M. ( 2009). Do mastery approach goals and research outcome expectations mediate the relationship between the research training environment and research interest? Test of a social cognitive model. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 3, 250-260.
17.
Deemer, E.D., Martens, M.P., & Podchaski, E.J. (2007). Counseling psychology students’ interest in research: Examining the contribution of achievement goals. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 1, 193-203.
18.
Defour, D.C., & Paludi, M.A. ( 1995). Women and achievement. In J. C. Chrisler & A. H. Hemstreet (Eds.), Variations on a theme: Diversity and the psychology of women (pp. 145-173). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
19.
Di Fabio, A. ( 2006). Decisional procrastination correlates: Personality traits, self-esteem, or perceptions of cognitive failure?International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance, 6, 109-122.
Dweck, C.S., & Leggett, E.L. ( 1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality . Psychological Review, 95, 256-273.
22.
Elliot, A.J. ( 1997). Integrating the ‘‘classic’’ and ‘‘contemporary’’ approaches to achievement motivation: A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 143-179). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
23.
Elliot, A.J., & Church, M.A. ( 1997). A hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 218-232.
24.
Elliot, A.J., & McGregor, H.A. (2001). A 2 x 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 501-519.
25.
Elliot, A.J., McGregor, H., & Gable, S. ( 1999). Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology , 91, 549-563.
26.
Elliot, A.J., McGregor, H., & Thrash, T.M. ( 2002). The need for competence. In E. L. Deci, & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 361-387). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
27.
Elliot, A.J., & Murayama, K. ( 2008). On the measurement of achievement goals: Critique, illustrations, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 613-628.
28.
Elliot, A.J., & Thrash, T.M. ( 2002). Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: Approach and avoidance temperaments and goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 804-818.
29.
Fairchild, A.J., Horst, S.J., Finney, S.J., & Barron, K.E. ( 2005). Evaluating existing and new validity evidence for Academic Motivation Scale. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 30, 331-358.
30.
Farmer, H.S. ( 1997). Women’s motivation related to mastery, career salience, and career aspiration: A multi-variate model focusing on the effects of sex role socialization. Journal of Career Assessment, 5, 355-381.
31.
Finney, S.J., Pieper, S.L., & Barron, K.E. ( 2004). Examining the psychometric properties of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire in a general academic context. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64, 365-382.
32.
Flum, H., & Kaplan, A. ( 2006). Exploratory orientation as an educational goal. Educational Psychologist, 41, 99-110.
33.
Harackiewicz, J.M., Barron, K.E., Carter, S.M., Lehto, A.T., & Elliot, A. ( 1997). Predictors and consequences of achievement goals in the college classroom: Maintaining interest and making the grade. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1284-1295.
34.
Harackiewicz, J.M., Barron, K.E., Pintrich, P.R., Elliot, A.J., & Thrash, T.M. ( 2002). Revision of achievement goal theory: Necessary and illuminating . Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 638-645.
35.
Harackiewicz, J.M., Barron, K.E., Tauer, J.M., Carter, S.M., & Elliot, A.J. ( 2000). Short-term and long-term consequences of achievement goals: Predicting interest and performance over time. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 316-330.
36.
Harackiewicz, J.M., Barron, K.E., Tauer, J.M., & Elliot, A.J. ( 2002). Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 562-575.
37.
Heym, N., Ferguson, E., & Lawrence, C. ( 2008). An evaluation of the relationship between Gray’s revised RST and Eysenck’s PEN: Distinguishing BIS and FFFS in Carver and White’s BIS/BAS scales. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 709-715.
38.
Jorm, A.F., Christensen, H., Henderson, A.S., Jacomb, P.A., Korten, A.E., & Rodgers, B. ( 1999). Using the BIS/BAS scales to measure behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation: Factor structure, validity, and norms in a large community sample. Personality and Individual Differences, 26, 49-58.
39.
Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P.L. (2005). Work competence: A person-oriented perspective. In A. J. Elliot & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation (pp. 336-353). New York, NY: Guilford.
40.
Lang, J.W.B., & Fries, S. ( 2006). A revised 10-item version of the Achievement Motives Scale: Psychometric properties in German-speaking samples. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 22, 216-224.
41.
Leach, C.W., Queirolo, S.S., DeVoe, S., & Chemers, M. ( 2003). Choosing letter grade evaluations: The interaction of students’ achievement goals and self-efficacy. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28, 495-509.
42.
Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D., & Hackett, G. ( 1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79-122.
43.
Locke, E.A. ( 1997). The motivation to work: What we know. In M. L. Maehr & P. L. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 10, pp. 375-412). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
44.
Lokan, J.L., & Biggs, J.B. ( 1982). Student characteristics and motivational and process factors in relation to styles of career development. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 21, 1-16.
45.
Mann, L., Burnett, P., Radford, M., & Ford, S. ( 1997). The Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire: An instrument for measuring patterns for coping with decisional conflict. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 10, 1-19.
46.
McClelland, D., Atkinson, J., Clark, R., & Lowell, E. ( 1953). The achievement motive. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
47.
National Science Foundation. (2010). Science and engineering indicators 2010 (NSB 10-01). Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation.
48.
Nicholls, J.G. ( 1984). Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review , 91, 328-346.
49.
Roe, A. ( 1953). The making of a scientist. New York, NY: Dodd, Mead.
50.
Rotondo, D. ( 1999). Individual difference variables in career-related coping . Journal of Social Psychology, 139, 458-471.
51.
Ryan, R.M., & Deci, E.L. ( 2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67.
52.
Senko, C., & Harackiewicz, J.M. (2005). Regulation of achievement goals: The role of competence feedback. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 320-336.
53.
Smillie, L.D., & Jackson, C.J. ( 2005). The appetitive motivation scale and other BAS measures in the prediction of approach and active avoidance. Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 981-994.
54.
Smillie, L.D., Jackson, C.J., & Dalgleish, L.I. (2006). Conceptual distinctions among Carver and White’s (1994) BAS scales: A reward-reactivity versus trait impulsivity perspective. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 1039-1050.
55.
Smith, J.L., Sansone, C., & White, P.H. ( 2007). The stereotyped task engagement process: The role of interest and achievement motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99, 99-114.
56.
Strube, M.J. ( 1986). An analysis of the Self-Handicapping Scale. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 7, 211-224.
57.
Urdan, T., & Midgley, C. ( 2001). Academic self-handicapping: What we know, what more there is to learn. Educational Psychology Review, 13, 115-138.
58.
U. S. Department of Commerce, U. S. Department of Education. (2008). The shortage in the number of individuals with post-baccalaureate degrees in subjects related to fishery science (NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS-F/SPO-91). Retrieved from http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/report_congress/ShortageOfDegrees.pdf
59.
Vallerand, R.J., & Bissonnette, R. (1992). Intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivational styles as predictors of behavior: A prospective study. Journal of Personality, 60, 599-620.
60.
Vallerand, R.J., Pelletier, L.G., Blais, M.R., Brière, N.M., Senécal, C., & Vallières, E.F. (1992). The Academic Motivation Scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 1003-1017.
61.
Van Yperen, N.W. ( 2006). A novel approach to assessing achievement goals in the context of the 2 x 2 framework: Identifying distinct profiles of individuals with different dominant achievement goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 1432-1445.
62.
Vroom, V.H. ( 1964). Work motivation. New York, NY: John Wiley.
63.
Ziegler, A., Dresel, M., & Stoeger, H. ( 2008). Addressees of performance goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 643-654.
64.
Zusho, A., Pintrich, P.R., & Cortina, K.S. ( 2005). Motives, goals, and adaptive patterns of performance in AsianAmerican and Anglo American students. Learning and Individual Differences, 15, 141-158.
