Motivation among Veterans

To predict the motivational importance of a mastery goal orientation versus a performance orientation; one must first define each term and determine its association to how an individual pursues a goal. According to “Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications,” mastery goal orientation is “defined as a focus on learning, mastering, the task according to self-set standards or self-improvement, developing new skills, improving or developing competence, trying to accomplish something challenging, and trying to gain understanding or insights” (Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2015). It seems that such a process would require an individual to have a strong set of morals, values, and principles. This same reference defines performance orientation as representing “a focus on demonstrating competence or ability and how ability will be judged relative to others, for example, trying to surpass normative performance standards, attempting to best others, and striving to be the best in the group or class on task” (Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2015). Such implications make me believe that an individual would have this type of orientation based on their beliefs of how accomplishing this goal, would be perceived by others.

???????????When trying to decipher the difference between the two, mastery goal orientation refers to intrinsic motivation while performance orientation focuses on the extrinsic rewards from accomplishing a goal. According to the text “Intrinsic Motivation at Work,” “research shows that people are quick to recognize the importance of intrinsic rewards in their own behavior but tend to assume that others are motivated by economic “deals” and personal gain” (Thomas, 2000). If people recognize the importance of intrinsic rewards, it seems safe to assume that extrinsic rewards may impede someone’s personal set of morals, values, and principles. Such implications would make me infer that someone’s mastery goal orientation maybe distorted by performance orientation. “In some measures of performance orientation, the term relative ability orientation is used instead of performance orientation or ego orientation. However, the measures of performance and ego goal orientation also overlap as they do for different mastery goals” (Schunk, Meece, Pintrich, & 2015).

???????????Both concepts would seem to compliment the other. When referencing a previous discussion, attribution theory supports this inference because the attribution theory emphasizes how one’s attributions are based on their perception, even if that perception is not based on facts. As a result, attributions are categorized in three casual dimensions; stability, locus, and control. “The stability dimension refers to how stable a cause is over time, ranging from stable to unstable” (Schunk, Meece, & Pintrich, 2014). Such a dimension would seem imply that people become conditioned to perceive their situation as stable or unstable, even if the situation would indicate otherwise. According to an article published in Educational Psyhology, locus of control refers to “one’s belief that his or her behavior is guided by external factors, such as luck, fate, etc., or internal factors, such as ability and effort. The importance of an attribution to that is internal, for example, is the influence of self-esteem” (Hurst, 2015). It seems apparent that the locus of control enables someone to perceive whether something occurred because of internal cues or external cues. “Controllability refers to how much the person has over the cause; it can range from controllable to uncontrollable” It seems apparent that one’s controllability dimension is determined by their perception of how much influence they have over an outcome of any given situation. Does that person believe they could have done something about it or do they assume that they have no control over it?

This clinician believes that mastery goal orientation is, ultimately, more important than performance goal orientation. It seems safe to assume that mastery goal orientation is a process in which is supported by one’s morals, values, and principles. This orientation would seem to be based on one’s level of self-esteem. Sub sequentially performance goal orientation is initiated on a mezzo level. Even though mastery goal orientation is more important than performance orientation, this clinician believes mastery goal orientation is a precursor of performance orientation. As one’s lifespan progresses, then each orientation is determined by someone’s previous experiences. This would be determined by asking the question, “Does the individual perform better by themselves or within a group?”

References

Hurst, M. (2015). Attribution Theory and the Principle of Locus of Control. Educational Psychology. Retrieved from: https://www.study.com/.../attribution-theory-and-the-principle-of-locus-of-control.html

Schunk, D., Meece, J., & Pintrich, P. (2014). Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:Pearson Education Inc.

Thomas, K. (2000). Intrinsic Motivation at Work. 2nd ed. Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc.: San Francisco, CA.?