Achievement goals, reasons for goal pursuit, and achievement goal complexes as predictors of beneficial outcomes: Is the influence of goals reducible to reasons?

In the present research, we proposed a systematic approach to disentangling the shared and unique variance explained by achievement goals, reasons for goal pursuit, and specific goal-reason combinations (i.e., achievement goal complexes). Four studies using this approach (involving nearly 1,800 participants) led to 3 basic sets of findings. First, when testing goals and reasons separately, mastery (-approach) goals and autonomous reasons explained variance in beneficial experiential (interest, satisfaction, positive emotion) and self-regulated learning (deep learning, help-seeking, challenging tasks, persistence) outcomes. Second, when testing goals and reasons simultaneously, mastery goals and autonomous reasons explained independent variance in most of the outcomes, with the predictive strength of each being diminished. Third, when testing goals, reasons, and goal complexes together, the autonomous mastery goal complex explained incremental variance in most of the outcomes, with the predictive strength of both mastery goals and autonomous reasons being diminished. Comparable results were observed for performance (-approach) goals, the autonomous performance goal complex, and performance goal-relevant outcomes. These findings suggest that achievement goals and reasons are both distinct and overlapping constructs, and that neither unilaterally eliminates the influence of the other. Integrating achievement goals and reasons offers the most promising avenue for a full account of competence motivation

The joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes

The authors provide an analytic framework for studying the joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes. This framework encompasses 3 models (the direct effect model, indirect effect model, and interaction effect model), each of which addresses a different aspect of the joint influence of the 2 goal levels. These 3 models were examined together with a sample of 1,578 Japanese junior high and high school students from 47 classrooms. Results provided support for each of the 3 models: Classroom goal structures were not only direct, but also indirect predictors of intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept, and some cross-level interactions between personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures were observed (indicating both goal match and goal mismatch effects). A call is made for more research that takes into consideration achievement goals at both personal and structural levels of representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract

The effects of U.S. county and state income inequality on self-reported happiness and health are equivalent to zero

PURPOSE: A popular idea in the social sciences is that contexts with high income inequality undermine people’s well-being and health. However, existing studies documenting this phenomenon typically compare a small number of higher-level units (countries/regions). Here, we use local income inequality indicators and temporal designs to provide the most highly powered test to date of the associations between income inequality and self-reported happiness and health in the USA METHOD: We combined county-level income inequality data (county-level Gini coefficients) with the responses from the General Social Survey (GSS) Cross-sectional dataset (13,000 + participants from ≈1000 county-waves) and Panels (3 × 3000 + participants from 3 × ≈500 county-waves); we used the GSS happiness (“not too happy,” “pretty happy,” or “very happy”) and health (“poor,” “fair,” “good,” or “excellent”) variables. RESULTS: Multilevel-ordered logistic models and equivalence tests revealed that the within-county effects of income inequality on self-reported happiness and health were systematically equivalent to zero. Additional analyses revealed that the within-state effects were identical, that using alternative measures of state income inequality led to the same conclusions, and that lagged effects (between + 1 and + 12 years) were never significant and always equivalent to zero. CONCLUSION: The present work suggests that—at least in the USA—income inequality is likely neither associated with self-reported happiness nor with self-reported health. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11136-022-03137-8

The Influence of Red on Perceptions of Relative Dominance and Threat in a Competitive Context

Recent research has revealed that a person or team wearing red is more likely to win a physical contest than a person or team wearing another color. In the present research, we examined whether red influences perceptions of relative dominance and threat in an imagined same-sex competitive context, and did so attending to the distinction between wearing red oneself and viewing red on an opponent. Results revealed a bidirectional effect: wearing red enhanced perceptions of one’s relative dominance and threat, and viewing an opponent in red enhanced perceptions of the opponent’s relative dominance and threat. These effects were observed across sex, and participants seemed unaware of the influence of red on their responses. Our findings lead to practical suggestions regarding the use of colored attire in sport contexts, and add to an emerging, provocative literature indicating that red has a subtle but important influence on psychological functioning

Facile Protocol for Water-Tolerant “Frustrated Lewis Pair”-Catalyzed Hydrogenation

Despite rapid advances in the field of metal-free, “frustrated Lewis pair” (FLP)-catalyzed hydrogenation, the need for strictly anhydrous reaction conditions has hampered wide-scale uptake of this methodology. Herein, we report that, despite the generally perceived moisture sensitivity of FLPs, 1,4-dioxane solutions of B(C6F5)3 actually show appreciable moisture tolerance and can catalyze hydrogenation of a range of weakly basic substrates without the need for rigorously inert conditions. In particular, reactions can be performed directly in commercially available nonanhydrous solvents without subsequent drying or use of internal desiccants

Color in context: psychological context moderates the influence of red on approach- and avoidance-motivated behavior.

A basic premise of the recently proffered color-in-context model is that the influence of color on psychological functioning varies as a function of the psychological context in which color is perceived. Some research has examined the appetitive and aversive implications of viewing the color red in romance- and achievement-relevant contexts, respectively, but in all existing empirical work approach and avoidance behavior has been studied in separate tasks and separate experiments. Research is needed to directly test whether red influences the same behavior differently depending entirely on psychological context. The present experiment was designed to put this premise to direct test in romance- and achievement-relevant contexts within the same experimental paradigm involving walking behavior. Our results revealed that exposure to red (but not blue) indeed has differential implications for walking behavior as a function of the context in which the color is perceived. Red increased the speed with which participants walked to an ostensible interview about dating (a romance-relevant context), but decreased the speed with which they walked to an ostensible interview about intelligence (an achievement-relevant context). These results are the first direct evidence that the influence of red on psychological functioning in humans varies by psychological context. Our findings contribute to both the literature on color psychology and the broader, emerging literature on the influence of context on basic psychological processes