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Article
Publication date: 4 December 2018

Alexander R. Knights

The achievement motivation construct has long presented a significant challenge to the study of presidential leadership. The purpose of this paper is to overcome the limitations…

Abstract

Purpose

The achievement motivation construct has long presented a significant challenge to the study of presidential leadership. The purpose of this paper is to overcome the limitations of prior research by proposing that whether achievement motivation is related to effectiveness in the US presidency may not be a matter of if but how achievement motivation is manifested.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on the channeling hypothesis, it was proposed that presidents’ trait behaviors should be accounted for as they directly impact the way that presidents express achievement motivation. To test this thesis, this study relied on data generated from diverse sources that provide both direct and indirect information about US presidents’ personalities and effectiveness, including content analyses of inaugural addresses and presidential biographies and surveys completed by presidential biographers and scholars.

Findings

Results show that among achievement motivated presidents, display of motive-congruent, conscientious behaviors contributes to their effectiveness, whereas display of motive-incongruent, agreeable behaviors tends to detract from it.

Research limitations/implications

The small sample size of US presidents and the limited amount of archival data available for some of these subjects prevented more fine-grained analyses. Thus, further research among senior leaders is needed to not only confirm the explanatory mechanism offered herein, but also explore the possibility that there are optimal levels beyond which the personality traits under study may cease to be a help or hindrance to achievement motivated chief executives.

Originality/value

This study represents the first effort to formally integrate motives and traits in the study of chief executives. The findings of this research also substantiate the need for researchers to consider the complex nature of motives in predicting important outcomes across different contexts.

Details

International Journal of Public Leadership, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4929

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 July 2010

Dana Wood and Sandra Graham

Discrimination is defined as negative or harmful behavior toward a person because of his or her membership in a particular group (see Jones, 1997). Unfortunately, experiences with…

Abstract

Discrimination is defined as negative or harmful behavior toward a person because of his or her membership in a particular group (see Jones, 1997). Unfortunately, experiences with discrimination due to racial group membership appear to be a normal part of development for African American youth. Discrimination experiences occur within a variety of social contexts, including school, peer, and community contexts, and with increasing frequency as youth move across the adolescent years (Fisher, Wallace, & Fenton, 2000; Seaton et al., 2008). Recent research with a nationally representative sample of African American 13–17-year olds revealed that 87% had experienced at least one racially discriminatory event during the preceding year (Seaton et al., 2008). Most of the research on the consequences of youths’ encounters with racial discrimination has focused on mental health outcomes (Cooper, McLoyd, Wood, & Hardaway, 2008), with surprisingly little work examining whether and through what mechanisms discrimination affects achievement motivation.

Details

The Decade Ahead: Applications and Contexts of Motivation and Achievement
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-254-9

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2022

Rocío Giselle Fernández Da Lama and María Elena Brenlla

The present research was based on an online questionnaire. A total of 256 undergraduate psychology students aged 18–44 (M = 23.61; SD = 0.57) from the Pontifical Catholic…

Abstract

Purpose

The present research was based on an online questionnaire. A total of 256 undergraduate psychology students aged 18–44 (M = 23.61; SD = 0.57) from the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina took part in the study (137 women; 53.3%). A sociodemographic and academic survey and the locally adapted versions of the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Tuckman Procrastination Scale were used in this study. Participants were contacted by an email advertisement in which the main purpose of the study was explained, and the instruments remained open from September to November of 2021. Descriptive analyses – means, standard deviations and frequencies – were calculated using IBM SPSS v.25, and mediation and moderation analyses were conducted on PROCESS macro.

Design/methodology/approach

Academic achievement has always been a concern in the high undergraduate's community. Numerous studies have addressed psychological aspects of students' academic life; however, a past-positive (PP) time perspective, a warm and sentimental view of past events that took place in someone's life, has not been profoundly contemplated. The fact that students might organize their activities, employ different strategies to fulfill their tasks and motivate themselves to pursue their academic goals based primarily on their past experiences calls the attention on conducting research on this time perspective dimension and its relationship with procrastination and academic motivation. It was hypothesized that the PP time perspective would positively predict academic achievement via the mediation of academic motivation in a way that the potentiate effect of PP time perspective on academic achievement would be increased in highly motivated students, but this effect would be reduced in less motivated students. Also, it was hypothesized that the relationship between motivation and academic achievement would be negatively moderated by procrastination such that academic achievement would increase with academic motivation; however, that increase would be attenuated by procrastination.

Findings

Academic achievement was positively associated with PP time perspective (r = 0.39; p < 0.01) and academic motivation (0.36; p < 0.01) and negatively associated with procrastination (r = −0.15; p < 0.05). Results showed that academic motivation mediated the relationship between PP time perspective and academic achievement (ß = 1.37; R2 = 0.21; p < 0.001). Additionally, procrastination moderated the relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement but only at the low (ß = 0.76; p < 0.001) and medium (ß = 0.44; p < 0.001) levels of procrastination, while at high levels of procrastination, that relationship was not statistically significant (ß = 0.11; p > 0.05).

Originality/value

This is the first study that examined the mediated role of academic motivation in the relationship between PP time perspective and academic achievement and that included the moderating role of procrastination.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Jaewon (Jay) Yoo, Todd J. Arnold and Gary L. Frankwick

The purpose of this model is to explain how person – organization fit (P – O fit) and competitive intensity, conceptualized as a job resource and a job demand, respectively…

1778

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this model is to explain how person – organization fit (P – O fit) and competitive intensity, conceptualized as a job resource and a job demand, respectively, ultimately affect the development of frontline employee boundary-spanning behavior (BSB).

Design/methodology/approach

A survey methodology was used in collecting data from a sample of bank employees in South Korea. To analyze the data, a structural equation model procedure using LISREL 8.5 was used (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1996).

Findings

Results suggest that a frontline employee’s P – O fit decreases emotional exhaustion and increases achievement-striving motivation. Competitive intensity significantly reduces achievement-striving motivation. Results also show that competitive intensity significantly attenuates the positive relationship between P – O fit and employee achievement-striving motivation, highlighting the importance of contextual industry stressors upon internal organizational behaviors. Both emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation are found to ultimately affect BSBs except for the link between emotional exhaustion and service delivery.

Originality/value

The current study applies the job-demands resources model to demonstrate how both an externally initiated job demand (competitive intensity) and an internally oriented job resource (person – organization fit) influence employee experience of emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation. Interaction effects of P – O fit and competitive intensity on employee’s psychological states (emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation) are also examined. Further, it is demonstrated that both emotional exhaustion and achievement-striving motivation will directly influence service employee boundary-spanning behaviors, but in differential manners. This highlights the importance of exhaustion and motivation as mediators for the ultimate effect of a job resource (P – O fit), answering a call for such understanding of the developmental process for BSBs (Podsakoff et al., 2000). This is the first empirical study to link both internal and external elements to illuminate the process for developing job demands and resources, as well as boundary spanning behaviors.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 48 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 4 December 2009

Xuan Van Tran and Arch G. Woodside

People have unconscious motives which affects their decision-making and associated behavior. The paper describes a study using thematic apperception test (TAT) to measure how…

Abstract

People have unconscious motives which affects their decision-making and associated behavior. The paper describes a study using thematic apperception test (TAT) to measure how unconscious motives influence travelers' interpretations and preferences toward alternative tours and hotels. Using the TAT, the present study explores the relationships between three unconscious needs: (1) achievement, (2) affiliation, and (3) power and preferences for four package tours (adventure, culture, business, and escape tours) and for seven hotel identities (quality, familiarity, location, price, friendliness, food and beverage, and cleanliness and aesthetics). The present study conducts canonical correlation analyses to examine the relationships between unconscious needs and preferences for package tours and hotel identities using data from 467 university students. The study scores 2,438 stories according to the TAT manual to identify unconscious needs. The findings indicate that (1) people with a high need for affiliation prefer an experience based on cultural values and hotels that are conveniently located, (2) individuals with a high need for power indicate a preference for high prices and good value for their money, and (3) people with a high need for achievement prefer a travel experience with adventure as a motivation. The study findings are consistent with previous research of McClelland (1990), Wilson (2002), and Woodside et al. (2008) in exploring impacts of the unconscious levels of human need.

Details

Perspectives on Cross-Cultural, Ethnographic, Brand Image, Storytelling, Unconscious Needs, and Hospitality Guest Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-604-5

Article
Publication date: 10 April 2017

Sarah Pirmohamed, Agata Debowska and Daniel Boduszek

Prior research has highlighted gender differences in academic motivational attributes, and how these predict academic achievement for each gender; however, a vast amount of…

1441

Abstract

Purpose

Prior research has highlighted gender differences in academic motivational attributes, and how these predict academic achievement for each gender; however, a vast amount of inconsistency exists amongst such literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictive value of academic motivation (achievement goal, leaning goal, performance goal (PG), self-efficacy (SE), and active learning strategies (ALS)) and study time in explaining academic achievement amongst male and female students.

Design/methodology/approach

Cross-sectional survey design was applied. Participants were sampled opportunistically, and consisted of final year undergraduate students, including both males (n=126) and females (n=189) attending various courses at a UK university.

Findings

A multiple regression analysis carried out for each gender revealed that study time, ALS, PG, and SE were significant predictors of achievement for males, whereas SE was the only significant predictor of achievement for females.

Originality/value

These findings offer practical implications in terms of methods employed by educators to enhance academic achievement. Such implications highlight the importance of the development of SE in both genders and propose methods in which universities can enhance motivation in male and female students. Recommendations for future research are also made.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 October 2021

Jin Ho Jung, Jaewon Yoo and Yeonsung Jung

The aim of this paper is to test how leader–member exchange (LMX) interacts with procedural justice climate to influence three types of employee motivation (i.e. achievement

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to test how leader–member exchange (LMX) interacts with procedural justice climate to influence three types of employee motivation (i.e. achievement striving motivation, status striving motivation and communion striving motivation). Furthermore, this study empirically examines the indirect effects of LMX on customer loyalty through employee motivation and service orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a matched sample of 188 retail service employees and 376 customers from a large shopping mall in South Korea to test the empirical model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrapping method were employed to test a series of proposed hypotheses.

Findings

The results show that LMX significantly enhances customer loyalty through two motivational dimensions and service orientation. In particular, this study shows that achievement and status striving motivation are directly related to service orientation, but communion striving motivation does not affect customer-focused service attitude. In addition, procedural justice climate serves as a critical moderator and synergistically interacts with LMX to influence achievement and status striving motivation.

Research limitations/implications

This study offers new insight regarding how managers' roles in both individual (leader–member exchange) and organizational (procedural justice climate) level affect different forms of retail service employee motivation and service orientation, which in turn, result in customer loyalty.

Practical implications

The results suggest that when retail service employees perceive procedural fairness at retail stores, they are more motivated to work hard to complete their assignments and achieve their sales goals in conjunction with leader support. Therefore, managers must provide a clear guideline and procedure regarding salary raises and performance evaluations or engage in thorough discourse on such matters with employees prior to announcements of such decisions. Moreover, as retail service employees interact with customers in the frontline, and how they serve customers plays a key role in creating customer loyalty. Managers should encourage retail service employees to engage in service-oriented behaviors.

Originality/value

The results suggest that LMX facilitates more formal task-related motivation to achieve either tasks or status while it is less related to relationship-building motivation, which is a unique contribution of this study. The results offer better understating of how LMX differentially leads to specific types of employee motivation in the existing literature.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 October 2020

Julie Brueckner, Janine Bosak and Jonas W.B. Lang

This study examined gender differences in CEOs' expression of implicit achievement, power and affiliation motivation. Building on the role congruity account of sex differences and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined gender differences in CEOs' expression of implicit achievement, power and affiliation motivation. Building on the role congruity account of sex differences and similarities in motivation and existing literature on implicit motives, the study tested whether female CEOs would express higher affiliation motivation than male CEOs and similar levels of achievement motivation. In addition, gender differences in power motivation were explored.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used propensity score matching to generate a comparable sample of male and female CEOs from publicly traded companies. Subsequently, the authors content-coded CEO letters from annual reports using Winter's (1994) manual for scoring motive imagery in running text.

Findings

Overall, CEOs expressed more achievement and power motivation than affiliation motivation. Comparisons between male and female CEOs showed that female CEOs expressed lower power and higher affiliation motivation than male CEOs.

Research limitations/implications

By integrating implicit motive theory with social role theory and the role congruity account of motivation, this study provides a theoretical framework and novel demonstration that understanding social roles and gender roles can lend insights into motive expression by CEOs.

Originality/value

The study uses established theory and a validated scoring method in a novel way by analyzing implicit motives from CEO letters, a critical communication channel in the CEO–shareholder relationship. In doing so, this study adopts a sociocultural perspective. Informed by the role congruity account of motivation, the study demonstrates the importance of social roles and gender roles for motivational displays.

Details

Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0268-3946

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 November 2014

Raymond P. Perry, Judith G. Chipperfield, Steve Hladkyj, Reinhard Pekrun and Jeremy M. Hamm

This chapter presents empirical evidence on the effects of attributional retraining (AR), a motivation-enhancing treatment that can offset maladaptive explanatory mind-sets…

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter presents empirical evidence on the effects of attributional retraining (AR), a motivation-enhancing treatment that can offset maladaptive explanatory mind-sets arising from adverse learning experiences. The evidence shows that AR is effective for assisting college students to adapt to competitive and challenging achievement settings.

Design/methodology/approach

This chapter describes the characteristics of AR protocols and details three primary advances in studying AR efficacy in terms of achievement performance, psychosocial outcomes, and processes that mediate AR-performance linkages. The psychological mechanisms that underpin AR effects on motivation and performance are outlined from the perspective of Weiner’s (1974, 1986, 2012) attribution theory.

Findings

Laboratory and field studies show that AR treatments are potent interventions that have short-term and long-lasting psychosocial, motivation, and performance benefits in achievement settings. Students who participate in AR programs are better off than their no-AR counterparts not just in their cognitive and affective prospects, but they also outperform their no-AR peers in class tests, course grades, and grade-point-averages, and are more persistent in terms of course credits and graduation rates.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the emerging literature on treatment interventions in achievement settings by documenting key advances in the development of AR protocols and by identifying the next steps critical to moving the literature forward. Further progress in understanding AR efficacy will rest on examining the analysis of complex attributional thinking, the mediation of AR treatment effects, and the boundary conditions that moderate AR treatment efficacy.

Book part
Publication date: 12 July 2010

Allan Wigfield and Jenna Cambria

Expectancy-value theory is prominent in different areas in psychology, and a number of educational and developmental psychologists who study the development of achievement

Abstract

Expectancy-value theory is prominent in different areas in psychology, and a number of educational and developmental psychologists who study the development of achievement motivation have utilized this theory in their work (see Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2006; Weiner, 1992; Wigfield & Eccles, 1992; Wigfield, Tonks, & Klauda, 2009 for overviews). In this chapter, we discuss current expectancy-value theoretical models of achievement motivation and review research based on these models. Much of this research has focused on the development of children's expectancies and values, and how expectancies and values relate to performance, choice of different activities, and emotions. We discuss the major findings from each of these areas of research. We also provide suggestions for future research based in this theory for the next decade. We focus our review and suggestions for future research primarily on elementary and secondary school students, but include some relevant work done with college students.

Details

The Decade Ahead: Theoretical Perspectives on Motivation and Achievement
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-111-5

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