360 CHAPTER 9
failure of his or her actions. This concept is related to the much older notion of locus of
control, in which people who assume that they have control over what happens in their
lives are considered to be internal in locus of control, and those who feel that their lives
are controlled by powerful others, luck, or fate are considered to be external in locus of
control (A. P. MacDonald, 1970; Rotter, 1966).
Dweck has amassed a large body of empirical research, particularly in the field of
education, to support the idea that people’s “theories” about their own selves can affect
their level of achievement motivation and their willingness to keep trying to achieve suc-
cess in the face of failure (Dweck, 1986; Dweck & Elliott, 1983; Dweck & Leggett, 1988;
Elliott & Dweck, 1988; Yeager et al., 2014). According to this research, people can form one
of two belief systems about intelligence, which in turn affects their motivation to achieve.
Those who believe intelligence is fixed and unchangeable often demonstrate an external
locus of control when faced with difficulty, leading them to give up easily or avoid situa-
tions in which they might fail—often ensuring their own failure in the process (Dweck &
Molden, 2008). They are prone to developing learned helplessness, the tendency to stop
trying to achieve a goal because past failure has led them to believe that they cannot
succeed. to Learning Objective 5.12. Their goals involve trying to “look smart”
and to outperform others (“See, at least I did better than she did”). For example, a stu-
dent faced with a big exam may avoid coming to class that day, even though that might
mean getting an even lower score on a makeup exam. This does not mean that students
with this view of intelligence are always unsuccessful. In fact, Dweck’s research (1999)
suggests that students who have had a long history of successes may be most at risk for
developing learned helplessness after a big failure, precisely because their previous suc-
cesses have led them to believe in their own fixed intelligence. For example, a child who
had never earned anything less than an A in school who then receives his first C might
become depressed and refuse to do any more homework, ensuring future failure.
The other type of person believes that intelligence is changeable and can be shaped
by experiences and effort in small increases, or increments. These people also tend to
show an internal locus of control, both in believing that their own actions and efforts will
improve their intelligence and in taking control or increasing their efforts when faced
with challenges (Dweck & Molden, 2008). They work at developing new strategies and
get involved in new tasks, with the goal of increasing their “smarts.” They are motivated
to master tasks and don’t allow failure to destroy their confidence in themselves or pre-
vent them from trying again and again, using new strategies each time.
Based on this and other research, Dweck recommends that parents and teachers praise
efforts and the methods that children use to make those efforts, not just successes or abil-
ity. Instead of saying, “You’re right, how smart you are,” the parent or teacher should say
something such as, “You are really thinking hard” or “That was a very clever way to think
about this problem.” In the past, teachers and parents have been told that praise is good and
criticism is bad—it might damage a child’s self-esteem. Dweck believes that constructive
criticism, when linked with praise of effort and the use of strategies, will be a better influ-
ence on the child’s self-esteem and willingness to challenge themselves than endless praise
that can become meaningless when given indiscriminately (Gunderson et al., 2013).Arousal and Incentive Approaches
9.4 Identify the key elements of the arousal and incentive approaches to
motivation.
Another explanation for human motivation involves the recognition of yet another
type of need, the need for stimulation. A stimulus motive is one that appears to be
unlearned but causes an increase in stimulation. Examples would be curiosity, playing,
and exploration. On the other hand, sometimes our motives for doing things involve theMany people are driven by a need to attain
both realistic and challenging goals. This
young girl seems eager to provide an
answer to the teacher’s question, and the
teacher’s positive feedback will help foster
the girl’s need for achievement.
stimulus motive
a motive that appears to be unlearned
but causes an increase in stimulation,
such as curiosity.