Rewarding cognitive effort increases the intrinsic value of mental labor.

Current models of mental effort in psychology, behavioral economics, and cognitive neuroscience typically suggest that exerting cognitive effort is aversive, and people avoid it whenever possible. The aim of this research was to challenge this view and show that people can learn to value and seek effort intrinsically. Our experiments tested the hypothesis that effort-contingent reward in a working-memory task will induce a preference for more demanding math tasks in a transfer phase, even though participants were aware that they would no longer receive any reward for task performance. In laboratory Experiment 1 (n = 121), we made reward directly contingent on mobilized cognitive effort as assessed via cardiovascular measures (ß-adrenergic sympathetic activity) during the training task. Experiments 2a to 2e (n = 1,457) were conducted online to examine whether the effects of effort-contingent reward on subsequent demand seeking replicate and generalize to community samples. Taken together, the studies yielded reliable evidence that effort-contingent reward increased participants' demand seeking and preference for the exertion of cognitive effort on the transfer task. Our findings provide evidence that people can learn to assign positive value to mental effort. The results challenge currently dominant theories of mental effort and provide evidence and an explanation for the positive effects of environments appreciating effort and individual growth on people's evaluation of effort and their willingness to mobilize effort and approach challenging tasks.

The relationship between social support and professional identity of health professional students from a two-way social support theory perspective: chain mediating effects of achievement motivation and meaning in life.

BACKGROUND: Studies has suggested that receiving social support improves the professional identity of health professional students. According to the two-way social support theory, social support includes receiving social support and giving social support. However, the effect of the two-way social support on health professional students' professional identity has not been clarified yet. METHODS: To explore the mechanism of how two-way social support affects health professional students' professional identity, an observational, cross-sectional study was conducted among a convenience and cluster sample of 1449 health professional students from two medical schools in western China. Measures included a short version of the two-way social support scale, a health professional students' professional identity questionnaire, an achievement motivation scale, and a meaning in life scale. Data were analyzed by use of SPSS26.0 software and PROCESSv4.0 plug-in. RESULTS: Receiving social support, giving social support, achievement motivation, meaning in life, and professional identity were positively correlated with each other. Receiving and giving social support not only directly predicted health professional students' professional identity, but also indirectly predicted health professional students' professional identity through the mediating roles of achievement motivation and meaning in life, and the chain mediating roles of achievement motivation and meaning in life, respectively. The effectiveness of predicting health professional students' professional identity varied among different types of two-way social support, which could be depicted as two-way social support > mainly giving social support > mainly receiving social support > low two-way social support. CONCLUSION: In the medical education, the awareness and ability of health professional students to receive and give social support should be strengthened. More attention should be drawn on the chain mediating effect of achievement motivation and meaning in life between two-way social support and professional identity. The current results shed new light on exploring effective ways of improving health professional students' professional identity, which suggested that more attention should be paid to the positive effects of mainly giving social support and two-way social support rather than only on the effects of receiving social support.

Dropout intentions in secondary education: Student temperament and achievement motivation as antecedents.

INTRODUCTION: As early school leaving and dropping out from education pose a challenge for later life adjustment, it is important to identify antecedent factors for the risk of school dropout to tailor individual support for adolescents. Consequently, this study examines the role of adolescents' motivational beliefs and behaviors (i.e., success expectations, planning, and task-avoidance) as well as their temperament (i.e., extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity, effortful control, and affiliativeness) in their dropout intentions in the first year of upper secondary education. METHODS: Participants were Finnish adolescents' (n = 536; 57% girls, mean age 12.39 at outset, standard deviation = 0.35) and their motivational beliefs and behaviors were measured in Grades 6 and 9. Their temperament was also measured in Grade 9. As for dropout intentions, they were measured in upper secondary education. The effects of gender, academic achievement, task value, and educational track were controlled for in the analyses. RESULTS: The results of latent growth modeling showed that, of motivational beliefs and behaviors, high success expectations and low task avoidance independently predicted lower dropout intentions. Success expectations in Grade 6 also mediated the effects of extraversion/surgency, negative affectivity and effortful control on subsequent school dropout intentions, whereas an increase in task avoidance in lower secondary school was a mediator between extraversion/surgency and dropout intentions. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides novel understanding about how temperament is linked with motivational beliefs and behaviors and what roles they together play in subsequent school dropout intentions. Supporting students with different temperaments and achievement motivations would be important to prevent adverse consequences for both the individual and society.

Effects of test difficulty messaging on academic cheating among middle school children.

Academic cheating is a serious worldwide problem that begins during childhood. However, to date there has been little research on academic cheating with children before high school age. The current study used a naturalistic experimental paradigm to evaluate the possibility that systematically manipulating messages about the difficulty of a test can affect whether middle school children (N = 201) would cheat by reporting a falsely inflated test score. We found that test difficulty messaging significantly affected children's cheating behavior. Specifically, telling children that a test was either easy or hard produced higher rates of cheating than telling them that the difficulty level was on par with their current skills. In addition, among the children who chose to cheat, telling them that the test was easy led to a greater degree of cheating. These findings are consistent with theories of academic cheating that point to the importance of approach and avoidance motives in achievement motivation. The findings also suggest that simple messaging can have a significant impact on children's moral behavior and that seemingly innocuous messages such as describing the difficulty of a test can influence children's decisions about whether and how much to cheat.

Job-search self-efficacy and reemployment willingness among older adults: roles of achievement motivation and age.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to explore the relationship between job-search self-efficacy and reemployment willingness among older adults, as well as roles of achievement motivation and age in this relationship. METHODS: Three hundred and sixty-five Chinese retired older adults were recruited from five neighborhoods in a city via convenience sampling, and they were measured by the Job Search Self-Efficacy Scale and the Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS). RESULTS: Results revealed that job-search self-efficacy significantly positively predicted reemployment willingness. Achievement motivation played a partial mediating role in the relationship between the job-search self-efficacy and reemployment willingness. Age moderated the relationship between job-search self-efficacy and reemployment willingness. CONCLUSIONS: These findings showed that increasing the job-search self-efficacy and achievement motivation could effectively promote older adults' reemployment willingness. The present study provided a theoretical basis for caring for older adults' reemployment willingness.

Students' achievement motivation in Finnish and Chinese higher education and its relation to perceived teaching-learning environments.

This cross-cultural study of Finnish and Chinese students set out to compare the levels of achievement motivation (AM) in order to investigate whether the differences in them might be explained by the different cultural response styles and whether these response styles could be controlled for with a method which includes response style variables as covariates in ANCOVA. This study also scrutinizes relationships between perceived teaching-learning environments (TLE) and AM within each cultural group. The survey sample consisted of 3,035 Finnish and 2,309 mainland Chinese university students. Finnish students were found to rate the level of AM markedly higher than do Chinese students. It was determined that the method applied for response style controlling is not suitable for cross-cultural studies, even though it is recommended for this use. A modification of the method, which is based on robust statistical tools, was found not to change this conclusion, but it can nevertheless be used to obtain useful information about the effects of response style differences. The results also show that similar relationships between AM and TLE could be identified in the data of both groups. However, for the Finnish group AM is related to perceived suitable workload, whereas for the Chinese group it is related to teacher encouragement.

Narratives of effort among Chinese, Hungarian and Chinese immigrant students in Hungary.

The present study aimed to reveal the effect of migration processes on the conceptualisation of effort involving two cultures with different approaches towards effort: China with an effort-promoting mindset and Hungary with an effort-repressing mindset. In the study, narrative approach was used in cross-sectional design involving Chinese, Hungarian and Chinese immigrant students living in Hungary. Altogether 139 students-49 Hungarian, 47 Chinese, 43 Chinese immigrants-aged 13-15 years provided narratives on past personal effort. Content analyses were done on 222 narratives. The results showed that the Chinese narratives of effort were characterised by learning and achievement orientation with elaborated effort process. In contrast, the Hungarian narratives were characterised by relationship orientation and emotional coping with a non-elaborated effort process. The narratives of the Chinese immigrants showed great similarity to those of the Chinese students reflecting academic effort, achievement goals and elaborated process. The findings suggest that the traditional Chinese approach towards effort persists in cultural transition, and academic effort tends to be a primary resource for educational success for the Chinese immigrant students in Hungary.

High Achievement Motivation is Not Related to Increased Use of Acute Headache Medication in Migraine: A Cross-sectional Observational Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if migraine patients with high achievement motivation have an increased use of acute headache medication. BACKGROUND: It has been hypothesized that high achievement-motivated migraine patients have an increased use of acute headache medication to be able to perform at work and during daily life, putting them at risk for medication overuse headache (MOH). METHODS: The Achievement Motivation Inventory and use of acute headache medication were assessed in 117 migraine patients (60 episodic, 57 chronic) at their first appointment at our tertiary headache center. RESULTS: Patients with low vs high achievement motivation were not significantly different in acute headache medication days per month (10.8 ± 6.9 vs 10.9 ± 7.8, P = .98), in acute headache medication use in the absence of headache (to prevent occurrence of headache later that day: 51.8% vs 48.2%, P = .38), in having a diagnosis of MOH (37.9 vs 23.7%, P = .12), or in reduction of acute headache medication days at 3 and 6 months follow-up (both P > .20). CONCLUSIONS: High achievement motivation in migraine patients was not associated with increased acute headache medication use or more frequent diagnosis of MOH.

Are training and transfer effects of working memory updating training modulated by achievement motivation?

Previous studies examining effects of working memory (WM) updating training revealed mixed results. One factor that might modulate training gains, and possibly also transfer of those gains to non-trained cognitive tasks, is achievement motivation. In the present Studies 1 and 2, students with either a high (HAM) or low (LAM) achievement motivation completed a 14-day visuospatial WM updating training program. In Study 2, the students also performed a set of tasks measuring other executive functions and fluid intelligence prior to and after training. In both studies, the HAM students displayed a larger training gain than the LAM students. Study 2 revealed that after training, both groups showed better performance on the near-transfer but not far-transfer tasks. Importantly, the differential training gain was not associated with better post-training performance for the HAM compared to the LAM students on any of the transfer tasks. These results are taken to support a modulatory role of achievement motivation on WM training benefits, but not on transfer of those benefits to other tasks. Possible reasons for the general improvement on the near-transfer tasks and the absence of a modulatory role of achievement motivation on transfer-task performance are discussed.

Do Growth Mindsets in Math Benefit Females? Identifying Pathways between Gender, Mindset, and Motivation.

Despite efforts to increase female representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), females continue to be less motivated to pursue STEM careers than males. A short-term longitudinal study used a sample of 1449 high school students (grades 9-12; 49% females) to examine pathways from gender and mindset onto STEM outcomes via motivational beliefs (i.e., expectancy beliefs, task value, and cost). Mindset, motivational beliefs, and STEM career aspirations were assessed between the fall and winter months of the 2014-2015 school year and math grades were obtained at the conclusion of the same year. Student growth mindset beliefs predicted higher task values in math. Task values also mediated the pathway from a growth mindset to higher STEM career aspirations. Expectancy beliefs mediated the pathway between gender and math achievement. This mediated pathway was stronger for females than for males, such that females had higher math achievement than males when they endorsed a growth mindset. Findings suggest possible avenues for improving female's interest in STEM.

Impression management and achievement motivation: Investigating substantive links.

In this research, we investigate impression management (IM) as a substantive personality variable by linking it to differentiated achievement motivation constructs, namely achievement motives (workmastery, competitiveness, fear of failure) and achievement goals (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, performance-avoidance). Study 1 revealed that IM was a positive predictor of workmastery and a negative predictor of competitiveness (with and without self-deceptive enhancement (SDE) controlled). Studies 2a and 2b revealed that IM was a positive predictor of mastery-approach goals and mastery-avoidance goals (without and, in Study 2b, with SDE controlled). These findings highlight the value of conceptualising and utilising IM as a personality variable in its own right and shed light on the nature of the achievement motive and achievement goal constructs.

Temperament and self-based correlates of cooperative, competitive and individualistic learning preferences.

People vary in the extent to which they prefer cooperative, competitive or individualistic achievement tasks. In this research, we conducted two studies designed to investigate correlates and possible roots of these social interdependence orientations, namely approach and avoidance temperament, general self-efficacy, implicit theories of intelligence, and contingencies of self-worth based in others' approval, competition and academic competence. The results indicated that approach temperament, general self-efficacy and incremental theory were positively related, and entity theory was negatively related to cooperative preferences (|r| range from .11 to .41); approach temperament, general self-efficacy, competition contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related to competitive preferences (|r| range from .16 to .46); and avoidance temperament, entity theory, competitive contingencies and academic competence contingencies were positively related, and incremental theory was negatively related to individualistic preferences (|r| range from .09 to .15). The findings are discussed with regard to the meaning of each of the three social interdependence orientations, cultural differences among the observed relations and implications for practitioners.

Predicting elite Scottish athletes' attitudes towards doping: examining the contribution of achievement goals and motivational climate.

Understanding athletes' attitudes to doping continues to be of interest for its potential to contribute to an international anti-doping system. However, little is known about the relationship between elite athletes' attitudes to drug use and potential explanatory factors, including achievement goals and the motivational climate. In addition, despite specific World Anti-Doping Agency Code relating to team sport athletes, little is known about whether sport type (team or individual) is a risk or protective factor in relation to doping. Elite athletes from Scotland (N = 177) completed a survey examining attitudes to performance-enhancing drug (PED) use, achievement goal orientations and perceived motivational climate. Athletes were generally against doping for performance enhancement. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that task and ego goals and mastery motivational climate were predictors of attitudes to PED use (F (4, 171) = 15.81, P < .01). Compared with individual athletes, team athletes were significantly lower in attitude to PED use and ego orientation scores and significantly higher in perceptions of a mastery motivational climate (Wilks' lambda = .76, F = 10.89 (5, 170), P < .01). The study provides insight into how individual and situational factors may act as protective and risk factors in doping in sport.

Enriching the hierarchical model of achievement motivation: autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals.

BACKGROUND: The hierarchical model of achievement motivation presumes that achievement goals channel the achievement motives of need for achievement and fear of failure towards motivational outcomes. Yet, less is known whether autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals can serve as additional pathways between achievement motives and outcomes. AIMS: We tested whether mastery approach, performance approach, and performance avoidance goals and their underlying autonomous and controlling reasons would jointly explain the relation between achievement motives (i.e., fear of failure and need for achievement) and learning strategies (Study 1). Additionally, we examined whether the autonomous and controlling reasons underlying learners' dominant achievement goal would account for the link between achievement motives and the educational outcomes of learning strategies and cheating (Study 2). SAMPLE: Six hundred and six Greek adolescent students (Mage = 15.05, SD = 1.43) and 435 university students (Mage M = 20.51, SD = 2.80) participated in studies 1 and 2, respectively. METHOD: In both studies, a correlational design was used and the hypotheses were tested via path modelling. RESULTS: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals mediated, respectively, the relation of need for achievement and fear of failure to aspects of learning outcomes. CONCLUSION: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals could further explain learners' functioning in achievement settings.

Hope of success relates to the memory for unsolved compared to solved anagrams.

It is widely believed that unfinished tasks are better remembered than finished tasks, a phenomenon labelled the "Zeigarnik-Effect." It has been argued that this advantage relies on the persisting tension inherent in uncompleted intentions. However, this interpretation has been challenged. First, the memory advantage could not be reliably replicated. Second, a memory advantage can still be observed when the unfinished status of an uncompleted intention is inherently terminated, rendering the "persisting tension" explanation unlikely. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential memory advantage of interrupted but finished tasks and its relation to the personality disposition achievement motivation, specifically, hope of success and fear of failure. This goal was motivated by the hypothesis that the experience of a discrepancy between the anticipation of success and the subsequent failure would relate to the memory for an unfinished task, and that this discrepancy experience would be stronger for people high in hope of success. A large sample of adults (>1,000 participants) was presented with 12 anagrams. If they did not solve an anagram within 60 s, they were shown the solution. Afterwards, we measured free recall of the anagram solutions and assessed achievement motivation. Overall, participants recalled more unsolved anagrams than solved anagrams. However, only individuals high in hope of success displayed a greater tendency to remember unsolved anagrams. This study supports the idea that a discrepancy experience rather than persisting tension coincides with memory for unsolved tasks.

The Influences of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Social Support on Male Teenagers' Gaming Motivation: A Moderated Network Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Strong gaming motivations can lead to gaming-related health problems, but how gaming motivations are formed is unclear. Therefore, we examined the impact of early life experiences on gaming motivations. METHODS: Questionnaire data on the gaming motivations, adverse childhood experiences, and social support of 2,171 teenaged online game players were modeled using moderated network analysis. RESULTS: All adverse childhood experience components positively correlated with achievement and escapism motivations (weight range: 0.08-0.40). Social support from friends (weight = -0.04) negatively moderated the relationship between achievement motivation and other adverse childhood experiences and positively moderated (weight = 0.01) the relationship between escapism motivation and familial dysfunction. DISCUSSION: The findings indicate that adverse childhood experiences foster negative gaming motivations. Additionally, social support moderates the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and gaming motivations. These findings offer valuable insights that nursing practitioners can apply to gaming-related health problem interventions and prevention in teenagers.

The effect mechanism of perceived entrepreneurial environment on Chinese college students' entrepreneurial intention: chain mediation model test.

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the effect of perceived entrepreneurial environment among Chinese college students' entrepreneurial intention and its underlying mechanism. Methods: Based on a survey of 445 college students from 5 universities with the perceived entrepreneurial environment assessment scale, the achievement motivation scale, the entrepreneurial self-efficacy scale, and the entrepreneurial intention questionnaire. Results: There were significant correlations among perceived entrepreneurial environment, achievement motivation, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and entrepreneurial intention, and perceived entrepreneurial environment could significantly positively predict entrepreneurial intention. Achievement motivation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy played significant mediating roles between the perceived entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial intention. There were three paths that perceived entrepreneurial environment to influence entrepreneurial intention: One was the mediating role of achievement motivation; The second was the mediating role of entrepreneurial self-efficacy; The third was the chain-mediated role of both achievement motivation and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Discussion: The internal mechanism of the relationship between perceived entrepreneurial environment and entrepreneurial intention enriches the research results of entrepreneurial psychology among college students and provides a theoretical basis for training and guiding the entrepreneurship of college students.

The impact of a growth mindset on high school students' learning subjective well-being: the serial mediation role of achievement motivation and grit.

Purpose: The learning subjective well-being of high school students has significant value for their academic achievement and future life development. A growth mindset is one of the key factors affecting the learning subjective well-being of high school students. However, research on the mechanism by which a growth mindset affects learning subjective well-being is still relatively limited. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the impact of a growth mindset on the learning subjective well-being of high school students, as well as the role that achievement motivation and grit play as serial mediators in this relationship. Methods: This study employed a convenience sampling method to select 708 high school students from Chinese public high schools as participants. The research utilized the Growth Mindset Scale, Achievement Motivation Scale, Grit Scale, and the Learning Subjective Well-being Questionnaire for High School Students to collect data. All data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0, employing Model 6 from Hayes' SPSS PROCESS macro to test the serial mediation model. Results: Our results found that (1) high school students' growth mindset positively predicted their learning subjective well-being. (2) Achievement motivation played a mediating role between a growth mindset and learning subjective well-being among high school students. (3) Grit acted as a mediator between learning subjective well-being and growth mindset among high school students. (4) Achievement motivation and grit served as serial mediators between a growth mindset and learning subjective well-being among high school students. Conclusion: A growth mindset can influence the learning subjective well-being of high school students through achievement motivation and grit. Educators can enhance the learning subjective well-being of high school students by implementing intervention strategies that foster a growth mindset, achievement motivation, and grit.

The influence of achievement motivation on the educational practice ability of pre-service teachers: the multiple mediating role of professional identity and learning engagement.

Objective: According to Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model of human development, focus on exploring the mechanism of person characteristics (achievement motivation) in their own development (improvement of educational practice ability). Method: A survey was conducted on 1,225 pre-service teachers in Anhui Province, China, using the Achievement Motivation Scale, Professional Identity Scale, Learning Engagement Scale, and Educational Practice Ability Scale. Results: (1) Achievement motivation can significantly and positively predict pre-service teachers' educational practice ability; (2) Achievement motivation can indirectly affect pre-service teachers' educational practice ability through the mediating effects of professional identity and learning engagement; (3) Professional identity and learning engagement play a chain mediated role in the impact of achievement motivation on pre-service teachers' educational practice ability.

The differential influence of Achievement Motivation on Subjective Well-being and the moderating role of Self-control.

To investigate the association between achievement motivation and subjective well-being, as well as the moderating role of self-control and self-management on this relationship, 1017 Chinese college students were surveyed. The main results showed that: The interactive effect of motivation to approach success and self-control on subjective well-being was significant. Specifically, for individuals with high self-control ability, the positive effects of motivation to approach success on subjective well-being, life satisfaction and positive affect tended to be stronger, and meanwhile, the motivation to approach success negatively predicted negative affect. Furthermore, the interactive effect of motivation to avoid failure and self-control on subjective well-being was significant. Specifically, for individuals with high self-control ability, the negative effects of motivation to avoid failure on subjective well-being, life satisfaction and positive affect tended to be weaker, and meanwhile, the effect of motivation to avoid failure on negative affect was relatively weaker. Overall, our study indicated that improving self-control ability could maximize the positive effect of achievement motivation on subjective well-being. Moreover, motivating individuals with high self-control ability to pursue success and reducing motivation to avoid failure for individuals with low self-control ability could have a more positive influence on subjective well-being.