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The Achievement Motivation theory


Explain what research has to say about Type A and Type B personalities and our health. What has been the common misconception about personality types psychologists have had in the past?

Explain Emotional Affectivity and discuss the relationship between positive and negative affect examples

Research refer to variables of dispositional optimism and defensive pessimism when studying personality affects on health.

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Research findings regarding Achievement Motivation theory have found that their desire and ability to achieve is not only determined by the cognitive development but very strongly influenced by a variety of home, school, classroom, peer, and community factors, each with a unique influence on how children think about their learning (Bempechat & Elliott, 2002, p. 8) In essence the desire to succeed is more complicated and can be developed, enhanced, minimized or neutralized based on a variety of factors:

For example, Ames's studies of the influence of classroom structure on children's achievement beliefs helped to advance U.S. discourse on competitive as compared to cooperative learning (Ames and Archer, 1987; Ames and Ames, 1984). Specifically, her experimental studies showed that under competitive conditions, in which two children know that the one who solves more problems will receive a prize, concerns about ability become more salient, the successful student develops inflated views of his or her ability, and the unsuccessful student becomes self-deprecating. Under cooperative conditions, in which the group (which is composed of two children) succeeds in winning the prize, evaluations of the less able become elevated. However, under conditions that cause the group to fail, evaluations of the less able become very negative. This kind of work led practitioners to reevaluate the ways in which they organize their classrooms around cooperative learning. For example, Slavin's work revealed that cooperative learning is not simply a matter of assigning children to work on a particular project. He demonstrated that in order for a number of children to work successfully as a group, teachers must mandate individual responsibility and accountability (Slavin, 1991). (Bempechat & Elliott, 2002, p. 8)

The above referenced information directly shows that high achievement motivation is related to numerous factors and socialization is one major factor. Additionally, gender and culture affect motivation in the following manner:

Trustworthiness, social attentiveness, and responsibility (Dasen, 1984; Serpell, 1993; Super, 1983; Wober, 1974). Japanese conceptions elaborate on different kinds of social competence, such as sociability and the ability to sympathize with others (Azuma and Kashiwagi, 1987); the Chinese view contains moral notions such as self-cultivation and self-improvement, although both the Japanese and Chinese conceptions share the cognitive dimension with the West (Li, forthcoming a; Yang and Sternberg, 1997). Within the United States, ethnic groups also have different views of intelligence; for example, Latinos regard social competence as part of intelligence more than their Anglo counterparts do, and Cambodians stress hard work and observance of school rules more than the other two groups do (Okagaki and Sternberg, 1993). General attitudes toward learning across cultures have been examined primarily in the formal setting of ...