Relation between Achievement Goals and Self-Beliefs of Middle School Students in Writing and Science

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between achievement goals (task, performance-approach, performance-avoid), motivation constructs, and gender in the areas of middle school writing (N = 497) and science (N = 281). In both studies, task goals were associated positively with self-efficacy, self-concept, and self-efficacy for self-regulation and negatively with apprehension; performance-approach goals were associated positively with self-concept; and performance-avoid goals were associated negatively with self-concept and self-efficacy for self-regulation and positively with apprehension. In writing, performance-approach goals also related positively with self-efficacy, whereas performance-avoid goals related negatively and girls had stronger task goals. Findings related to performance-approach goals suggest that a developmental component may be at work in determining whether these goals serve a facilitative function in fostering motivation. Task goals and performance-approach goals were related, suggesting that they are each grounded in self-regulatory practices that lead to positive outcomes. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.