Mastery and performance
Research in the 1980s, including work by Carol Dweck, showed that children with a learning focus tended to persist after failure, while those focused on appearing competent were more likely to give up. Mastery-oriented people treat difficulty as information, whereas performance-oriented people are more apt to treat it as a threat.
Adding approach and avoidance
Andrew Elliot and colleagues divided performance goals into approach goals, aiming to outperform others, and avoidance goals, aiming not to look incompetent. This helped to resolve inconsistent findings. Performance-avoidance goals are usually linked with poorer outcomes, while performance-approach goals show a more mixed pattern.
Evidence at work and in school
Meta-analytic work on goal orientation connects learning goals with greater self-efficacy and learning. The associations are modest, and studies differ in how they define and measure each goal. Effects can also depend on the task, since a performance focus may work well where the skills required are already learned.
Further reading
- Dweck, C. S. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41, 1040-1048.
- Elliot, A. J., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 461-475.
- Payne, S. C., Youngcourt, S. S., & Beaubien, J. M. (2007). A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 128-150.