Chapter 5: Achievement Goals in The Context of The Hierarchical Model of Approach-Avoidance Achievement Motivation

The distinction between approach and avoidance motivation has a long intellectual history, dating back to the writings of the ancient Greeks (Elliot & Thrash, 2002). This distinction also has a broad intellectual history, having been utilized within a number of major theoretical traditions. It has been shown to have conceptual and empirical utility within a diverse range of psychological literatures, including developmental psychology, educational psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, social-personality psychology, and sport psychology.

In this chapter, we begin by defining the approach-avoidance distinction, and providing a brief historical overview that documents its deep philosophical and psychological heritage. We then proceed to examine empirical work on this distinction, highlighting research in the domain of achievement motivation. Finally, we consider the antecedents and consequences of approach and avoidance achievement motivation domain in depicting our hierarchical model of approach-avoidance achievement motivation. This chapter is authored by the members of the fall 2006 approach-avoidance motivation research group at the University of Rochester, and is meant to pay tribute to the rich and generative scholarly contributions of Dr. Marty Maehr. Dr. Maehr’s work on achievement goals has greatly influenced our own work on this construct; given that achievement goals are at the centerpiece of the hierarchical model, it is plain to see that Dr. Maehr’s ideas exert a deep influence on the research emerging from our laboratory.