Performance-approach goals deplete working memory and impair cognitive performance

Although longitudinal studies have consistently shown the positive impact of performance-approach goals (i.e., the desire to demonstrate one's abilities and outperform others) on academic success, they might allow some strategic behaviors such as cheating and surface studying, leaving open the question of the sheer impact of performance-approach goals on cognitive performance. We argued that the pressure to outperform others might generate outcome concerns and thus deplete working memory resources available for the activity, thereby hindering cognitive performance. Three studies carried out in a laboratory context confirmed this hypothesis. During a demanding cognitive task, performance-approach goal manipulation hampered performance (Experiment 1) by generating distractive concerns that drew on the limited verbal component of working memory (Experiment 2). Moreover, this interference was shown to be specifically due to the activation of performance-approach goal-related thoughts during the task solving (Experiment 3). Together, the present results highlight the distractive consequence of performance-approach goals on cognitive performance, suggesting that cognitive resource allocation is divided among the storage, processing, and retrieval of task-relevant information and the activation of normative goal-attainment concerns.