506 Chapter 14 The Major Motives of Life: Food, Love, Sex, and work
• The goal is challenging but achievable. You
are apt to work hardest for tough but realistic
goals. The highest, most difficult goals produce
the highest levels of motivation and perfor-
mance, unless, of course, you choose impossible
goals that you can never attain.
• The goal is framed in terms of getting what
you want rather than avoiding what you do
not want. This means focusing on approach
goals, positive experiences that you seek directly,
such as getting a better grade or learning to
scuba dive. Avoidance goals, in contrast, involve
the effort to avoid unpleasant experiences, such
as trying not to make a fool of yourself at parties
or trying to avoid being dependent.All of the motives discussed in this chapter
are affected by approach versus avoidance goals.
People who frame their goals in specific, achiev-
able approach terms (e.g., “I’m going to lose
weight by jogging three times a week”) feel better
about themselves, feel more competent, are more
optimistic, and are less depressed than people
who frame the same goals in avoidance terms
(e.g., “I’m going to lose weight by cutting out rich
foods”) (Coats, Janoff-Bulman, & Alpert, 1996;
Updegraff, Gable, & Taylor, 2004). Similarly,
people who have sex for approach goals—to en-
joy their own physical pleasure, to promote a
partner’s happiness, or to seek intimacy—tend
to have happier and less conflicted relationships
than those who have sex to avoid a partner’s loss
of interest or quarrels with the partner (Impett &
Tolman, 2006).
Can you guess why approach goals produce
better results than avoidance goals? Approach
goals allow you to focus on what you can actively
do to accomplish them and on the intrinsic plea-
sure of the activity. Avoidance goals make you
focus on what you have to give up.approach goals Goals
framed in terms of de-
sired outcomes or experi-
ences, such as learning
to scuba dive.
avoidance goals Goals
framed in terms of avoid-
ing unpleasant experi-
ences, such as trying not
to look foolish in public.
You are about to learn...
• the three kinds of goals most likely to improve
the motivation to succeed.
• the important difference between mastery goals
and performance goals.
• how the desire to achieve is affected by the
opportunity to achieve.
• which aspects of a job are more important than
money in increasing work satisfaction.the Competent animal:
Motives to achieve
Almost every adult works. Students work at study-
ing. Homemakers work at running a household.
Artists, poets, and actors work, even if they are paid
erratically (or not at all). Most people are motivated
to work to meet the needs for food and shelter. Yet
survival does not explain why some people want
to do their work well and others just want to get
it done. And it does not explain why some people
work to make a living and then put their passion for
achievement into unpaid activities, such as learning
to become an accomplished trail rider or traveling
to Madagascar to catch sight of a rare bird.The Effects of Motivation on Work
LO 14.11, LO 14.12
Psychologists, particularly those in the field of
industrial/organizational psychology, have measured
the psychological qualities that spur achievement
and success and also the environmental conditions
that influence productivity and satisfaction.The Importance of Goals. To understand
the motive to achieve, researchers today em-
phasize goals rather than inner drives: What
you accomplish depends on the goals you set
for yourself and the reasons you pursue them
(Dweck & Grant, 2008). Not just any old goals
will promote achievement, though. A goal is most
likely to improve your motivation and perfor-
mance when three conditions are met (Locke &
Latham, 2002, 2006):• The goal is specific. Defining a goal vaguely,
such as “doing your best,” is as ineffective as
having no goal at all. You need to be specific
about what you are going to do and when you
are going to do it: “I will write four pages of
this paper today.” “Finish it? Why would I want to finish it?”© The New Yorker Collection1985w.B. Parkfrom cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved