Unconscious and conscious determinants of achievement style.

Two separate threads of research on achievement motivation have been established in personality psychology. The first of these traditions has as its focus implicit, or partly unconscious, motivation. The second tradition emphasizes instead motivation that is fully conscious and therefore accessible to self-report. The present study drew on variables from each of these bodies of research. The need for achievement, as assessed by the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), and two sets of values about achievement, Type A and Protestant Work Ethic (PWE) values were examined. The goal of the study was to investigate how unconscious motives and conscious values combine to shape achievement-related outcomes. The dependent variables of interest were responsiveness to feedback, effort, goal-setting behavior, and intrinsic-extrinsic orientation. Subjects were 86 Introductory Psychology students at the University of Michigan. Measures of the need for achievement, Type A behavior, and PWE values were administered along with a variety of open- and closed-ended measures of the four dependent variables. Open-ended questions were content analyzed for mention of feedback responsiveness, effort, goal-setting, and intrinsic-extrinsic orientation. Results of hierarchical regression analyses revealed relationships between need for achievement and intrinsic motivation and between Type A behavior and extrinsic motivation. Need for achievement, Type A behavior, and PWE values were each associated with increased effort on achievement tasks. Subjects high in Type A behavior showed unwillingness to lower their goals in difficult situations, while need for achievement was related to a willingness to lower goals. No significant results were obtained for responsiveness to feedback. These findings are discussed with respect to the theoretical distinction between unconscious and conscious motivation.PhDPsychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/104396/1/9513490.pdfDescription of 9513490.pdf : Restricted to UM users only