PSY 614 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Social Comparison Theory
24 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Motivation - The direction & intensity of one's effort
Direction = WHAT you should do
-
Intensity = HOW much effort?
People that know WHAT (Direction) to do put forward more EFFORT
(Intensity)
Goal Setting
§
○
-
Approaches to Motivation
Trait-Centered View
Motivated behavior is primarily a function of individual characteristics
Intrinsic, Internal Locus of Control
○
-
Situation-Centered View
Motivation is determined by the situation
External Locus of Control
○
-
Interactional View
Neither solely Trait or Situation view, but a blend of both
Fig 3.1 (pg 53)
○
-
Ex. Swimming Study (Sorrentino & Sheppard)
Approval-Oriented Swimmers - Best performance ON A TEAM
§
Rejection-Threatened Swimmers - Best performance ALONE
(concerned with letting teammates down)
RELAY - most skilled swimmers do not make the relay team,
but the individuals that are the best fit to the team
□
§
○
-
Building Motivation Guidelines
(1) Consider both SITUATIONS and TRAITS in motivating people
(2) Understand people's multiple motives for involvement
Ex. Exercise - Motivation to look better or feel better
○
Motives critical in both participation & adherence of exercise (continuation)
-
Competing/conflicting motives
-
Shared/Unique motives
Ex. Fitness for one person, Social for another
○
-
Gender Differences
-
Cultural Differences
EASTERN Cultures - Cooperation (interdependence)
○
WESTERN Cultures - ME (independence)
○
-
(3) Change Environment
Competition & Recreation
Offering both enhances participation
Ex. Competitive & Recreational Softball leagues
§
○
Structure coaching to meet needs
○
-
(4) Influence Motivation
You influence the energy around you
Struggle through a bad day - Fake it till you make it?
○
Energy is your greatest resource
○
-
(5) Use Behavior Modification
Accentuate positive & reinforce good behavior
-
Achievement Motivation & Competitiveness
Achievement Motivation
Strive for success, achieve excellence & overcome obstacles
○
YOU vs YOU (intracomparison)
○
Motivation - Do my best, be better than yesterday
○
-
Competitiveness
Disposition to strive for satisfaction when making comparisons with some
standard of excellence in the presence of evaluative others
○
YOU vs OTHERS (intercomparison)
○
-
Some people are high with one or another, some people both
-
THEORIES
Need Achievement Theory
Interactional view that considers both personal and situational factors as
important predictors of behavior
-
Figure 3.4 (pg 62)
-
Achievement Motivation is the tendency to strive for success
-
High Achievers select challenging tasks, prefer intermediate risks & perform
better when being evaluated
-
Low Achievers avoid challenging tasks, avoid intermediate risks & perform
worse when being evaluated
-
Attribution Theory
How people explain successes & failures
Affects their expectations and emotional reactions, which in turn
influence future achievement motivation
Stability - PERMENANT factors (talent or good ability)
§
Locus of Causality - Internal or External
§
Locus of Control
§
○
EGO - Success = ME, Failures = OTHERS
Athletes - important to hold them accountable for their actions, etc
Execute YOUR plan, doesn't matter about others□
§
○
Figure 3.5 (pg 64)
○
-
Achievement Goal Theory
Goals - more outcome or task oriented
"Who won the game" vs "How did you play"
-
-
Task Orientation
Greater control (internal locus)
-
Stronger work ethic & optimal performance
-
-
Outcome Orientation
Goals set too high/low based on external factors
-
Too much comparison to others
-
-
IMPORTANCE
More adaptive with task-oriented goals as they are more POSITIVE
-
Outcome - 50/50 chance, you can either win or lose
-
-
Table 3.1 (pg 65)
-
Competence Motivation Theory
PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL work along with self-worth and competence
evaluations to influence motivation
More control = more competence
-
Fig 3.7 (pg 67)
-
-
-
WHAT THEORIES OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION TELL US
-Table 3.2 (pg 68)
DEVELOPING ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION & COMPETITIVENESS
Autonomous Competence Stage (-4yrs old)
Focus on mastering environment, rarely compare self to others
-
-
Social Comparison Stage (5yrs old)
Focus on comparing self to others
-
-
Integrated Stage
Both social comparison & autonomous
-
Person who masters this stage knows when it is appropriate to compete
and compare self with others and when to adopt self-referenced
standards
-
Most desirable stage (no typical age)
-
-
USING ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Recognize interactional factors
Stage of achievement motivation, goal orientations, attributions about
their performances & situations they tend to approach/avoid
-
-
Emphasize Task Goals
-
Monitor & Alter Feedback
Sandwich Approach (positive - correction - positive)
-
-
Assess & Correct Inappropriate Attributions
Correct negative internal dialogue
-
Change lack of ability statements to lack of effort statements
-
-
Determine when Competitive Goals are Appropriate
-
Enhance Feelings of Competence & Control
-
Chapter 3 -Motivation
Motivation - The direction & intensity of one's effort
Direction = WHAT you should do
-
Intensity = HOW much effort?
People that know WHAT (Direction) to do put forward more EFFORT
(Intensity)
Goal Setting
§
○
-
Approaches to Motivation
Trait-Centered View
Motivated behavior is primarily a function of individual characteristics
Intrinsic, Internal Locus of Control
○
-
Situation-Centered View
Motivation is determined by the situation
External Locus of Control
○
-
Interactional View
Neither solely Trait or Situation view, but a blend of both
Fig 3.1 (pg 53)
○
-
Ex. Swimming Study (Sorrentino & Sheppard)
Approval-Oriented Swimmers - Best performance ON A TEAM
§
Rejection-Threatened Swimmers - Best performance ALONE
(concerned with letting teammates down)
RELAY - most skilled swimmers do not make the relay team,
but the individuals that are the best fit to the team
□
§
○
-
Building Motivation Guidelines
(1) Consider both SITUATIONS and TRAITS in motivating people
(2) Understand people's multiple motives for involvement
Ex. Exercise - Motivation to look better or feel better
○
Motives critical in both participation & adherence of exercise (continuation)
-
Competing/conflicting motives
-
Shared/Unique motives
Ex. Fitness for one person, Social for another
○
-
Gender Differences
-
Cultural Differences
EASTERN Cultures - Cooperation (interdependence)
○
WESTERN Cultures - ME (independence)
○
-
(3) Change Environment
Competition & Recreation
Offering both enhances participation
Ex. Competitive & Recreational Softball leagues
§
○
Structure coaching to meet needs
○
-
(4) Influence Motivation
You influence the energy around you
Struggle through a bad day - Fake it till you make it?
○
Energy is your greatest resource
○
-
(5) Use Behavior Modification
Accentuate positive & reinforce good behavior
-
Achievement Motivation & Competitiveness
Achievement Motivation
Strive for success, achieve excellence & overcome obstacles
○
YOU vs YOU (intracomparison)
○
Motivation - Do my best, be better than yesterday
○
-
Competitiveness
Disposition to strive for satisfaction when making comparisons with some
standard of excellence in the presence of evaluative others
○
YOU vs OTHERS (intercomparison)
○
-
Some people are high with one or another, some people both
-
THEORIES
Need Achievement Theory
Interactional view that considers both personal and situational factors as
important predictors of behavior
-
Figure 3.4 (pg 62)
-
Achievement Motivation is the tendency to strive for success
-
High Achievers select challenging tasks, prefer intermediate risks & perform
better when being evaluated
-
Low Achievers avoid challenging tasks, avoid intermediate risks & perform
worse when being evaluated
-
Attribution Theory
How people explain successes & failures
Affects their expectations and emotional reactions, which in turn
influence future achievement motivation
Stability - PERMENANT factors (talent or good ability)
§
Locus of Causality - Internal or External
§
Locus of Control
§
○
EGO - Success = ME, Failures = OTHERS
Athletes - important to hold them accountable for their actions, etc
Execute YOUR plan, doesn't matter about others□
§
○
Figure 3.5 (pg 64)
○
-
Achievement Goal Theory
Goals - more outcome or task oriented
"Who won the game" vs "How did you play"
-
-
Task Orientation
Greater control (internal locus)
-
Stronger work ethic & optimal performance
-
-
Outcome Orientation
Goals set too high/low based on external factors
-
Too much comparison to others
-
-
IMPORTANCE
More adaptive with task-oriented goals as they are more POSITIVE
-
Outcome - 50/50 chance, you can either win or lose
-
-
Table 3.1 (pg 65)
-
Competence Motivation Theory
PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL work along with self-worth and competence
evaluations to influence motivation
More control = more competence
-
Fig 3.7 (pg 67)
-
-
-
WHAT THEORIES OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION TELL US
-Table 3.2 (pg 68)
DEVELOPING ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION & COMPETITIVENESS
Autonomous Competence Stage (-4yrs old)
Focus on mastering environment, rarely compare self to others
-
-
Social Comparison Stage (5yrs old)
Focus on comparing self to others
-
-
Integrated Stage
Both social comparison & autonomous
-
Person who masters this stage knows when it is appropriate to compete
and compare self with others and when to adopt self-referenced
standards
-
Most desirable stage (no typical age)
-
-
USING ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION IN PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Recognize interactional factors
Stage of achievement motivation, goal orientations, attributions about
their performances & situations they tend to approach/avoid
-
-
Emphasize Task Goals
-
Monitor & Alter Feedback
Sandwich Approach (positive - correction - positive)
-
-
Assess & Correct Inappropriate Attributions
Correct negative internal dialogue
-
Change lack of ability statements to lack of effort statements
-
-
Determine when Competitive Goals are Appropriate
-
Enhance Feelings of Competence & Control
-
Chapter 3 -Motivation
Document Summary
Motivation - the direction & intensity of one"s effort. People that know what (direction) to do put forward more effort (intensity) Motivated behavior is primarily a function of individual characteristics. Neither solely trait or situation view, but a blend of both. Approval-oriented swimmers - best performance on a team. Rejection-threatened swimmers - best performance alone (concerned with letting teammates down) Relay - most skilled swimmers do not make the relay team, but the individuals that are the best fit to the team. Building motivation guidelines (1) consider both situations and traits in motivating people (2) understand people"s multiple motives for involvement. Exercise - motivation to look better or feel better. Motives critical in both participation & adherence of exercise (continuation) Western cultures - me (independence) (3) change environment. Structure coaching to meet needs (4) influence motivation. Energy is your greatest resource (5) use behavior modification. Strive for success, achieve excellence & overcome obstacles.
