Performance-approach goals: good or bad forms of regulation?

Performance-approach goals have been positively linked to challenge construal, performance aspirations, performance, and self-esteem.

“performance-approach goals have been positively linked to challenge construal, performance aspirations, performance, and self-esteem (Elliot & Moller, 2003).”

Normative evaluations engender a preoccupation with performance concerns.

“normative evaluations engender a preoccupation with performance concerns (Butler, 1987, 2006; Elliot, 1999; Elliot & Moller, 2003; Harter, 1978; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Nicholls, 1984).”

Normative evaluation structures in the school and classroom environment tend to evoke performance-approach goals.

“it is 'the normative evaluation structures in the school and classroom environment that tend to evoke performance-approach goals,'”

Social comparison of grades provides additional and more accurately diagnostic competence information than a task-focused evaluation standard and is commonly used by students to situate themselves even in classrooms that promote criterion-based grading.

“social comparison of grades provides additional and more accurately diagnostic competence information than that provided by a task-focused evaluation standard and, as such, is commonly used by students to situate themselves even in classrooms that promote criterion-based grading.”

Grading has been shown to provoke challenge avoidance, as have performance-avoidance goals, whereas performance-approach goals are related to challenge construal.

“First, although grading has been shown to provoke challenge avoidance (Harter, 1978), as have performance-avoidance goals (McGregor &Elliot, 2002), performance-approach goals are related with challenge construal (Elliot & Moller, 2003).”

Elliot and Moller said normative strivings are likely to be sullied by less adaptive motivational concerns such as self-protection when they are pushed from without rather than allowed to emerge naturally from within.

“Elliot and Moller (2003, p. 345) took up a similar idea when they talked about normative strivings being likely to be 'sullied by' less adaptive motivational concerns such as selfprotection when 'they are pushed from without (i.e., suggested or encouraged by others or the structure of the evaluative environment) rather than being allowed to emerge naturally from within.'”