The role of motivational resources in maintaining psychological well-being after failure experiences.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development, 2018.Many researchers have described the effect of failure among college students and the role of motivational resources to explain the differences in individuals' responses to failure. Few studies to date have included examinations of the dynamic relationships among motivational resources and how these resources influence responses to failure experiences in a manner that leads to a better sense of well-being. By using the theoretical framework of self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000; Ryan & Deci, 2017), this study is focused on the subjective experience of failure. The major premise of the current study is that individuals' motivational resources influence their responses to the experience of failure to maintain their psychological well-being. The results from various statistical analyses support the hypotheses in the study: (1) College students experience failure in various areas, with most experiences being in academics and social relationships. (2) College students perceive their failure experience in a more serious manner when the failed task is more important and difficult. Also, they have considered the experience as more serious failure due to controlled reasons in the academic area and due to autonomous reasons in social relationships. (3) Motivational resources, need satisfaction for competence and relatedness, autonomous motivation, and mastery-oriented goals (including social development-oriented goals) significantly predict positive behavioral response to a failure experience, while need frustration for competence, controlled motivation, and mastery-oriented goals (including social development-oriented goals) are associated with negative affective responses to a failure experience in academics and social relationships. (4) Motivational resources are a sequential mediator in predicting responses to failure, and act as a moderator of the impact of failure response on psychological well-being. The findings of this study are consistent with previous studies in the SDT field even though the context here highlights experiences of failure. In conclusion, college students in more autonomy-supportive and autonomous contexts tend to respond to their failure experiences constructively, and they also maintain their psychological well-being even after experiences of failure