Clarifying achievement goals and their impact

The Impact of School Reopening on Chinese Adolescents' Mental Health During COVID-19: Considering the Role of Academic Stress and Academic Orientation

PURPOSE

Existing studies found that school closure during the COVID-19 pandemic negatively influenced adolescents' mental health. Yet, it remains unclear how adolescent mental health changed during the transition of school reopening as well as the academic-related risk and protective factors.

METHODS

Immediately before (April 2020) and three months (July 2020) after school reopening, 879 adolescents in Shanghai, China (mean age = 13.14 years, standard deviation = 1.31, 51% girls) completed online surveys and reported on their mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems). Adolescents also reported perceived academic stress and academic orientations (i.e., performance orientation and mastery orientation) before school reopening.

RESULTS

Adolescents reported decreased depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and anger problems three months after school reopening. Adolescents who reported higher perceived academic stress and performance orientation showed elevated mental health symptoms after school reopening, whereas those reported higher mastery orientation showed decreased anger problems. Higher mastery orientation buffered the negative influence of academic stress on mental health.

DISCUSSION

The findings not only demonstrate the positive influence of school reopening on Chinese adolescents' mental health but also highlight the role of perceived academic stress and academic orientations in contributing to individual differences during this transition.

Achievement Goal Theory and Mindsets: Keys for Competency Development in Nursing

BACKGROUND

Many nursing schools are transitioning to a competency-based model due to the increasing complexity of medical information, skills, task acuities, and cognitive overload.

PROBLEM

Nursing faculty may not be familiar with the synergy between achievement goal theory and the growth mindset (GM) model to prepare nursing students within a competency-based model effectively.

APPROACH

This article presents a persuasive argument for how integrating achievement goal theory and the GM model could effectively foster mastery goals essential for competency development.

CONCLUSIONS

Mastery goals, a component of the GM model, can be used as tangible indicators for assessing and evaluating competency development.

Dweck's Social-Cognitive Model of Achievement Motivation in Science

Dweck's social-cognitive model has long been used as a basis for achievement motivation research. However, few studies have examined the comprehensive model with interactions between perceived ability and achievement goals, and even fewer studies have focused on this model in a science academic context. With a sample of undergraduates (n = 1,036), the relations among mindsets, science academic self-efficacy, achievement goals, and achievement-related outcomes in science were examined. Fixed mindset related to performance goals. Growth mindset related to mastery goals and the number of courses completed. There was a significant indirect effect of growth mindset on interest value via mastery goals. Contrary to Dweck's model, the relation of performance goals to outcomes did not vary as a function of science academic self-efficacy. The findings provide empirical evidence for a more nuanced understanding of Dweck's model. They provide practical insights for how to support undergraduate students who are pursuing science-related career.

It Is Smart to Set Treatment Goals, But Are Set Treatment Goals SMART? A Qualitative Assessment of Goals Described in the Assessment of the Burden of COPD Tool

The Assessment of the Burden of COPD (ABC) tool facilitates shared decision-making and goal setting to develop a personalized care plan. In a previous trial (RCT), the ABC tool was found to have a significant effect on patients' Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL). In this exploratory study we used data from the intervention group of the RCT to investigate if patients with health-related goals had an improved HRQoL compared to those without goals, and if the quality and types of goals differed for those who have a clinically meaningful improvement in HRQoL. We hypothesized that the quality and the type of the goal described in the ABC tool, relates to an improved HRQoL. We assessed the quality of the goals according to the Specificity, Measurability, Achievability, Relevance and Timeliness (SMART) criteria, and coded and counted each type of goal. We found that having a goal or not, did not differ significantly for those who had a clinically meaningful improved HRQoL versus those who had not, nor was the quality or type of goal significantly different. The most common types of goals were exercise more, smoke less, and improve weight. Based on the results, we speculate that when a clinically meaningful improvement in HRQoL is achieved, it is not related to a single component (i.e. goal setting as part of shared decision-making) but that the different components of the ABC tool (visualization of burden, shared decision making, utilization of tailored evidence based interventions, and regular monitoring of progress) may have a synergistic effect on disease cognition and/or behavior change. Noteworthy, the sample size was small while the calculated effect size was moderate, making it unlikely to find a significant effect.

An exploratory study of goal orientations of traditional block and longitudinal integrated clerkship students

BACKGROUND

Achievement goal theory links goal setting, motivation, and learning and describes three orientations: 'mastery' (seeking learning), 'performance' (seeking positive judgments), and 'performance-avoidance' (avoiding negative judgments). Mastery orientation is considered most adaptive. The authors investigated goal orientations of traditional block clerkship (TBC) and longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) students.

METHODS

This was an exploratory study conducted at one US medical school. Three hundred and twenty students completed an anonymous survey consisting of three tools with validation evidence: Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey, Task-choice Goal Measures, and Questionnaire Goal Choice Items. The authors analyzed the data using regression analyses, Chi-square, and Wilcoxon's rank-sum tests.

RESULTS

While all students rated mastery items most highly on the five-point Likert scale (mean 4.58/5.00), LIC students rated performance-orientation lower (β = -0.36, p = .04), chose personal mastery-orientation items more frequently (92% vs. 64.4%, p = .005), and perceived their learning environment as promoting less performance (β = -0.60, p = .002) and performance-avoidance (β = -0.78, p < .001) compared to TBC students.

CONCLUSIONS

LIC and TBC students differed in their report of personal and clerkship goal orientations. These differences may inform educational design and future research to promote students' mastery orientation.

Study Smarter: Applying the Science of Learning to Radiology

Lifelong learning is critical to a successful career in radiology, but many learners use inefficient or ineffective studying strategies developed from personal experience. Decades of cognitive psychology research have identified several techniques that consistently improve knowledge consolidation and retrieval. To improve their knowledge and ultimately patient care, radiologists should strive to understand and adopt these learning techniques. The first part of this article reviews several evidence-based learning principles, including active retrieval and the testing effect, spaced repetition, interleaving, deliberate practice, and growth mind-set. The second part provides practical suggestions on how to incorporate these principles into radiology learning, both during training and beyond.

The item position effects in international examinations: the roles of gender

The goal of the present study was to evaluate the roles of item position in terms of item difficulty levels in the assessment of aptitude. Using data from a National Examination in Saudi Arabia, the item position effect was evaluated as a teacher licensure test (GTLT) was administered using five different forms with the same items appearing in a different order. Results indicated minuscule in magnitude position effects estimates, overall, with initially 11.1% of the tests being significant but all of them failing to reach significance using the Holm-Bonferroni's and Sidak corrective procedures. With regard to gender, item position effects emerged in 47.6% of the tests after adjusting the level of significance using the Sidak correction. Interestingly, the direction of effect was consistent so that in 87% of the significant gender comparisons, item position effects were in the direction where females were spending more time on items when they appeared in later positions on the test compared to males. Assuming that items appearing later on the test are likely more difficult, the present findings suggest a profile of deep processing and active engagement in females when facing achievement tests.

Academic boredom(s): a person-centered investigation

Should we refer to boredom or boredoms? Research on the emotion of boredom sets itself apart from studies on other emotions by posing the question: is boredom a singular concept or does it have multiple facets? In this manuscript presenting empirical research on academic boredom, our aim is to demonstrate the justification for claiming a distinct position. Person-centered models examining university students' achievement emotions reveal the existence of multiple types of boredom, in contrast to other learning emotions that are typically represented as singular constructs. Using data generated by dispositional learning analytics applications, we further investigate the progression of learning boredom over time, exploring the impact of the pandemic and analyzing how various student learning aptitudes, such as mindsets, epistemological beliefs, epistemic emotions, learning motivation, engagement, as well as demographic factors like gender and culture, can be considered as potential antecedents or triggers of boredom. Consistent with the control-value theory of achievement emotions, we conclude that control and value constructs serve as proximal antecedents of boredom, alongside epistemic boredom as a distal antecedent. However, the relationships between boredom and its antecedents exhibit notable variations across different types of boredom.

Theories of Motivation in Education: an Integrative Framework

Several major theories have been established in research on motivation in education to describe, explain, and predict the direction, initiation, intensity, and persistence of learning behaviors. The most commonly cited theories of academic motivation include expectancy-value theory, social cognitive theory, self-determination theory, interest theory, achievement goal theory, and attribution theory. To gain a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences among these prominent theories, we present an integrative framework based on an action model (Heckhausen & Heckhausen, 2018). The basic model is deliberately parsimonious, consisting of six stages of action: the situation, the self, the goal, the action, the outcome, and the consequences. Motivational constructs from each major theory are related to these determinants in the course of action, mainly revealing differences and to a lesser extent commonalities. In the integrative model, learning outcomes represent a typical indicator of goal-directed behavior. Associated recent meta-analyses demonstrate the empirical relationship between the motivational constructs of the six central theories and academic achievement. They provide evidence for the explanatory value of each theory for students’ learning.

Elucidating the Associations Between Achievement Goals and Academic Dishonesty: a Meta-analysis

Academic dishonesty is a pervasive problem undermining the effectiveness of educational institutions. From a motivational perspective, researchers have proposed achievement goals as antecedents of academic dishonesty. Empirical findings corroborate the notion that mastery goals (focus on learning and competence development) are negatively linked to academic dishonesty. However, even though theoretical considerations suggest positive links between performance goals (focus on competence demonstration) and academic dishonesty, empirical findings are mixed. To provide a better understanding of how goals matter for academic dishonesty, we conducted three-level meta-analyses encompassing 163 effect sizes from 33 studies and a total of 19,787 participants. We found a disproportional use of correlational designs (using self-report measures of academic dishonesty) and personal goal measures (opposed to surrounding goal structures). Evidence of publication bias was not found. Our results confirmed the expected negative associations between mastery goals and academic dishonesty and revealed heterogenous findings for performance goals, with indications of positive associations within behavioral and intentional dishonesty measures, but not within self-reports. To further clarify the associations between achievement goals and academic dishonesty, we call for more methodological rigor in the measurement of goals and dishonesty as well as multi-methods approaches when investigating their interplay.

More Competition in Mind, Better Sleep at Night? The Mediating Role of Anxiety between Competitive Attitude and Sleep Quality

Previous studies have suggested that individuals with hypercompetitive attitude and interpersonal insecurity would have a high level of anxiety, and anxiety has been found to strongly impact on sleep quality. However, the associations between competitive attitudes and sleep quality have not been studied until now. The present study aimed to examine whether anxiety mediates the relationship between competitive attitudes and interpersonal relationships with sleep quality. This was a cross-sectional study with a total of 713 college students (age = 20.18 ± 2.16 years old; 78.8% female) recruited online to measure hypercompetitive attitude, personal development competitive attitude, interpersonal security, state anxiety and sleep quality. Path analysis models were conducted in this study. The path analysis models showed that both hypercompetitive attitude and interpersonal security had direct and indirect significant effects on poor sleep quality due to the mediating effect of state anxiety (β = 0.023, 95% bootstrapped CI: 0.005 to 0.047; β = -0.051, 95% bootstrapped CI: -0.099 to -0.010, respectively). However, personal development competitive attitude had only an indirect significant effect, but it had a negative role on poor sleep quality via state anxiety (β = -0.021, 95% bootstrapped CI: -0.042 to -0.008). The current study provided evidence that college students' competitive attitudes would impact sleep quality and highlighted the mediating role of state anxiety. The current findings suggested that individuals shifting their hypercompetitive thinking to concentrate on ability development would benefit their mental health.

Prospective Teachers’ Beliefs About Human Intelligence in a Turkish Sample

Research consistently reports a moderate to a strong relationship between intelligence and academic performance. For about a century, the concept of intelligence has often been used in the definition of giftedness and the identification of gifted students along with other data sources, although some experts are against it. An understanding of prospective teachers' beliefs about intelligence is important to unearth how they perceive intelligence and giftedness. We replicated Warne and Burton's (2020) study with 157 prospective Turkish teachers. They were selected using an online convenience sampling method from various departments of a faculty of education. Of the participants, 72.6% were female and 27.4% were male. We adapted Warne and Burton’s (2020) survey, translating it to Turkish and administered it online to understand the prospective teachers’ beliefs about intelligence as well as to examine if these beliefs differ across cultures. We found that the prospective teachers’ understanding was mostly in line with the original study as well as the mainstream views of intelligence. We also found similar results to the original study, regarding the components of intelligence. Like the original study, the Turkish sample showed an understanding of the relationship between education and intelligence; however, the items about biological and genetic influences on intelligence, the plausible causes of group differences, the life outcomes of intelligence, and a cross-cultural comparison of intelligence had a low response uniformity in both studies. Similar findings across samples may be attributed to common, popular views as well as similar textbooks or other resources used in both cultures. The samples (e.g., educational level and age) may be partially responsible for the differences in the findings across both cultures.

Depression, suicidal ideation and suicide risk in German veterinary medical students compared to the German general population

Background

Various studies from different countries indicated that veterinarians have a significantly increased risk of depression, suicidal ideation and of death by suicide. For German veterinarians a recent study has demonstrated a three times higher rate for depression, two times higher rate for suicidal ideation and a five times higher suicide risk compared to the German general population. For veterinary students, recent studies in the US and UK indicated higher mental distress. To date, empirical studies on depression, suicidal ideation and suicide risk among veterinary students in Germany were lacking so far. This study investigates depression, suicidal ideation and suicide risk of veterinary students in Germany.

Methods

913 German veterinary students (14.3% response rate, 90.7% women, mean age 23.6 years) between 18 and 46 years were included and compared with representative German general population samples from 2007 (N = 1097, 55.4% women, mean age 33.9) and 2015 (N = 1033, 56.1% women, mean age 32.8) of the same age range using the depression module of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Suicide Behaviors questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R). The general population samples were collected with the assistance of a demographic consulting company.

Results

The prevalence of depression among German veterinary students was 45.9% (compared to 3.2% in the general population), suicidal ideation was 19.9% (compared to 4.5% in the general population) and suicide risk was 24.0% (compared to 6.6% in the general population).

Conclusion

In this study, German veterinary students have a 22.1 times higher risk to be screened positive for depression, a 4 times higher risk for reporting current suicidal ideation and they are 4.2 times more likely to have an increased suicide risk compared with the general population in Germany of the same age range.

The Influence of Students’ Self-Determination and Personal Achievement Goals in Learning and Engagement: A Mediation Model for Traditional and Nontraditional Students

Self-determination theory (SDT) and achievement goal theory (AGT) assume that students’ level of self-determination and the goals they pursue in class are important factors in engagement and learning. The aims of this study were to: (1) investigate the links between the students’ types of motivation and personal achievement goals; (2) explore how these two sets of variables relate to learning, engagement, and exploring mediation effects; and (3) understand the specificities of nontraditional students vs. traditional students, regarding the way these variables relate to each other. The study used a sample of 361 Portuguese adult students, 138 traditional (younger than 25 years old), and 223 nontraditional (active adults returning to education, 25 or older). The instruments used were: Self-regulation Questionnaire—Learning, Personal Achievement Goal Orientations Scale, Adult Learning Strategies Evaluation Scale and Behavioral Engagement Questionnaire. Path analysis for the total sample revealed that mastery goals mediated the relationship between autonomous motivation and all educational outcomes, and performance-avoidance goals mediated the relationship between introjected regulation, external regulation, and behavioral and emotional engagement. Multiple-group path analysis revealed a much stronger pattern of relationships for nontraditional students, especially between the SDT and AGT variables. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

Predicting Academic Performance with an Assessment of Students’ Knowledge of the Benefits of High-Level and Low-Level Construal

Metamotivation research suggests that people understand the benefits of engaging in high-level versus low-level construal (i.e., orienting toward the abstract, essential versus concrete, idiosyncratic features of events) in goal-directed behavior. The current research examines the psychometric properties of one assessment of this knowledge and tests whether it predicts consequential outcomes (academic performance). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed a two-factor structure, whereby knowledge of the benefits of high-level construal (i.e., high-level knowledge) and low-level construal (i.e., low-level knowledge) were distinct constructs. Participants on average evidenced beliefs about the normative benefits of high-level and low-level knowledge that accord with published research. Critically, individual differences in high-level and low-level knowledge independently predicted grades, controlling for traditional correlates of grades. These findings suggest metamotivational knowledge may be a key antecedent to goal success and lead to novel diagnostic assessments and interventions.

The regulatory properties of anger under different goal orientations: the effects of normative and outcome goals

Background

The present study aimed to evaluate the self-regulatory properties of anger on the performance of individuals under various motivational dispositions using an experimental design.

Methods

The participants were 99 university students who participated in response to extra credit. The performance of the participants was evaluated using the Tower of Hanoi task. Their anger was measured using a facial expression recognition system and arousal was assessed using a heart-rate monitoring device. Two motivational dispositions were assessed: performance goals with normative evaluative standards and performance goals with a focus on outcomes.

Results

The results indicated that a nonlinear function explained the relationship between anger, arousal, and achievement under different goal conditions. Specifically, the Cusp Catastrophe Model showed that anger levels beyond a critical point were associated with the unpredictability of performance during the normative goal condition, suggesting that anger disturbed the relationship between arousal and achievement. Interestingly, a linear model was relevant for explaining the same relationships during the outcome goal condition.

Conclusion

Thus, this study concluded that anger plays a more salient role when coupled with the pressures arising from employing interpersonal evaluative standards.

The Influence of Growth Mindset on the Mental Health and Life Events of College Students

Growth mindset refers to our core belief that our talents can be developed through practice, which may influence our thoughts and behaviors. Growth mindset has been studied in a variety of fields, including education, sports, and management. However, few studies have explored whether differences in individuals' growth mindsets influence college students' self-reported mental health. Using the Growth Mindset Scale, Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist, and SCL-90 Scale, data was collected from 2,505 freshmen in a University in China. Findings revealed that the students within the growth mindset group scored significantly lower on "mental health issues" and "stress due to life events" than the students in the fixed mindset group. Our findings suggest that individuals with a growth mindset are less prone to mental health problems than individuals with a fixed mindset.

The Stressful Experience of Goal Orientations Under Frustration: Evidence Using Physiological Means

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that goal orientation is associated with divergent forms of emotional reactivity under frustration. Goal orientations were assessed using bifurcations of performance goals described earlier. Physiological stress levels were measured via a blood volume pulse analysis after individuals were subjected to a computerized Stroop task using a malfunctioning mouse to induce enhanced frustration. The results indicated that performance-avoidance goals were associated with the highest levels of emotional reactivity, with normative outcome goals being significantly more detrimental than ability goals. We concluded that the motivation to avoid failure or to outperform others is the most detrimental determinant of stress and needs to be avoided by all means. Instead, it is suggested that educators emphasize performance using personal best outcomes or by valuing engagement, deep processing and task completion.

Motivating Personal Growth by Seeking Discomfort

Achieving personal growth often requires experiencing discomfort. What if instead of tolerating discomfort (e.g., feeling awkward or uncomfortable), people actively sought it out? Because discomfort is usually experienced immediately and is easy to detect, we suggest that seeking discomfort as a signal of growth can increase motivation. Five experiments (total N = 2,163 adults) tested this prediction across various areas of personal growth: taking improvisation classes to increase self-confidence, engaging in expressive writing to process difficult emotions, becoming informed about the COVID-19 health crisis, opening oneself to opposing political viewpoints, and learning about gun violence. Across these areas of personal development, seeking discomfort as a signal of self-growth motivated engagement and increased perceived goal achievement relative to standard instructions. Consistent with our theorizing, results showed that these effects occurred only in areas of personal growth that cause immediate discomfort.

Students’ Performance in Physical Education: The Role of Differential Achievement Goals and Self-Regulated Learning

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between differential achievement goals and self-regulated learning, as well as motivational mechanisms’ consequences for performance in physical education. This was done by using the 2 × 2 achievement goals framework, and the cyclical model for self-regulated learning. The participants (N = 571, 51.7% girls) were physical education students in grades 11–13 from two upper secondary schools in Norway. A cross-sectional questionnaire was conducted, and data were analysed with a multiple-regression-based structural equation model. The modified structural model yielded an adequate fit (X2 = [df = 124] 429.79, p < 0.01; RMSEA = 0.07; CFI = 0.93), and results revealed that achievement goals have consequences for students’ self-regulation in physical education. More specifically, mastery goals have a positive association with self-regulation, whereas performance avoidance is found to have a negative association. Further, the results support claims that self-regulated learning plays a role in students’ performance. Finally, the model showed that self-regulation mediates the relationship between mastery approach goals and performance avoidance goals in relation to performance.

Classroom discussion practices in online remote secondary school settings during COVID-19

Academically productive talk (APT) in classrooms has long been associated with significant gains in student learning and development. Yet, due to COVID-19 related restrictions, teachers around the world were forced to adapt their teaching to online, remote settings during the pandemic. In this investigation, we studied APT in junior high school during extended online, remote teaching spells. Specifically, we focused on the extent APT was a part of online teaching practices, what characterized teachers who tended to promote APT more in online, remote teaching, and associations between APT and teacher well-being, as well as student motivation and engagement. Findings from two survey studies (Study 1: 99 teachers, and 83 students; Study 2: 399 teachers) revealed the following patterns: Students and teachers agreed that APT was used to a lesser extent in remote, online classes, and associated with more interactive instructional formats (whole classroom discussion, peer group work, and questioning), but not with frontal teaching and individual task completion. Teachers with a higher sense of teaching self-efficacy, autonomous orientations, and higher empathy tended to promote APT in online, remote teaching more. More APT was associated with greater teachers’ work-related (i.e., lower burnout, more commitment to teaching, and lower turnover intentions) and psychological well-being (i.e., less depressive and anxiety symptoms, and higher subjective well-being). Finally, student experiences with APT in online, remote learning was positively associated with learning motivation and engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A multiple levels of analysis examination of the performance goal model of depression vulnerability in preadolescent children

If performance goals (i.e., motivation to prove ability) increase children's vulnerability to depression (Dykman, 1998), why are they overlooked in the psychopathology literature? Evidence has relied on self-report or observational methods and has yet to articulate how this vulnerability unfolds across levels of analysis implicated in stress-depression linkages; for example, hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis (HPA), sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Utilizing a multiple-levels-of-analysis approach (Cicchetti, 2010), this experimental study tested Dykman's goal orientation model of depression vulnerability in a community sample of preadolescents (N = 121, Mage = 10.60 years, Range = 9.08-12.00 years, 51.6% male). Self-reports of performance goals, attachment security, and subjective experience of internalizing difficulties were obtained in addition to objective behavioral (i.e., task persistence) and physiologic arousal (i.e., salivary cortisol, skin conductance level) responses to the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and two randomly assigned coping conditions: avoidance, distraction. Children with performance goals reported greater internalizing difficulties and exhibited more dysregulated TSST physiologic responses (i.e., HPA hyperreactivity, SNS protracted recovery), yet unexpectedly displayed greater TSST task persistence and more efficient physiologic recovery during avoidance relative to distraction. These associations were stronger and nonsignificant in the context of insecure and secure attachment, respectively. Findings illustrate a complex matrix of in-the-moment, integrative psychobiological relationships linking performance goals to depression vulnerability.

Achievement Goal Theory Review: An Application to School Psychology

Achievement Goal Theory (AGT) is one of the most popular theoretical frameworks in motivation research. Despite its application to a variety of contexts, including, school, work, and sport, it has not yet been referenced in the field of school psychology. First, we review the theoretical underpinnings as told through the theory’s evolving models, explore its impacts on cognition, emotion, and behavior, and introduce a multiple goals perspective. Second, we outline the leading research supporting AGT, both in terms of structural and individual intervention studies. Third, we apply the principles of AGT to the primary tasks of school psychology professionals, including assessment, intervention, and consultation practices. The students we support can greatly benefit from gearing our approaches toward ones that foster self-improvement and interest.

A growth mindset about human minds promotes positive responses to intelligent technology

Perceiving minds in technology agents, for example, robots designed with artificial intelligence (AI), is common and crucial in modern life. However, past studies have revealed that robots with a high level of minds elicit polarized responses. From a human-robot interaction perspective, we proposed that people' responses to robots, in part, originate from differences between fixed and growth mindsets about human minds-the beliefs regarding whether humans' mental capacities are fixed or incremental. We conducted five studies to test this assumption. A growth mindset about human minds was associated with or led to lower levels of negative feelings about robots (Study 1), more perceptions of robots as allies versus enemies (Study 2), more support for robotic research (Studies 3 and 4), and greater willingness to interact with robots (Study 5). Furthermore, the effect of a growth mindset about human minds on favorable responses to robots was more pronounced when robots were perceived as having high (versus low) levels of minds (Studies 3-5) and mediated by decreased concerns about robots (Study 5). By emphasizing the nuanced role of mindset beliefs about human minds in responses to intelligent technology, this research provides not only a new perspective on research into minds but also important implications for human-technology relationships.

Personal Achievement Goals, Learning Strategies, and Perceived IT Affordances

What people perceive when they interact with technologies are not the features and functionalities of the technology but rather the behaviors it affords them. Affordance perception determines how organizational information technology (IT) is used by employees and the benefits they provide to organizations and their members. In this article, we explain how employees who pursue different personal goals and use various learning strategies come to perceive different IT affordances. We identify three distinct pathways: (1) performance-avoidance goals are positively associated with surface processing, which leads to perceptions of common in-role IT affordances; (2) performance-approach goals are positively associated with surface processing and effort regulation and these learning strategies lead to perceptions of common and specialized in-role IT affordances; and (3) mastery goals are associated with deep processing, effort regulation, and peer learning, which are positively associated with perceptions of specialized in-role and extra-role IT affordances. By identifying the different pathways to perceived affordances, the article identifies potential interventions that can help managers steer employees toward certain affordances and away from other, less desirable affordances.

Mindsets of Early-Career Family Physicians Trained in Competency-Based Education

INTRODUCTION

The objective of this study was to examine the mindsets (mastery, performance approach, performance avoidance) of early-career family physicians following graduation from a competency-based education residency program.

METHODS

This was a longitudinal, cohort, survey study of family medicine residents at a large Canadian university. The 2015-2017 cohort of family medicine residents was surveyed at three time points: (1) at the end of residency training; (2) at 1 year in clinical practice; and (3) at 3 years in clinical practice. We used Baranik et al's instrument to measure three types of mindsets. We performed descriptive and multivariate analyses using SPSS 26.0 software.

RESULTS

Irrespective of the time in practice, mean scores were the highest on the mastery mindset and the lowest on the performance avoidance mindset measures (P<.001). Over time, the mastery mindset scores tended to decrease (P=.04).

CONCLUSION

Family physicians trained in competency-based education continued to be mastery-oriented in the first 3 years of clinical practice. This finding is reassuring given that the mastery mindset is associated with professional well-being and long-term success. Nonetheless, because mastery mindset scores appeared to decrease over time, residency programs need to ensure graduating residents are equipped with knowledge and tools to remain mastery-oriented throughout the course of their professional careers.

Effects of Attribute Affirmation and Achievement Goals on High School Students' Motivation

Researchers have suggested that receiving attribute affirmation (AA) may increase the motivation of students to confront a challenge. However, we posited that to determine whether AA increases the motivation of students to confront a challenging task, we must consider dispositional achievement goals of the students. The participants were 171 junior-high-school students, randomly assigned to an AA or no affirmation condition. The results showed that AA enhanced the tendency to confront a challenging task for students who endorsed low mastery-approach goals (MAGs) and low performance-approach goals (PAGs) simultaneously (b = 0.5, p = 0.015). The effect was mainly mediated by the increasing state performance-approach goals (SPAGs) in confronting the task (indirect effect = 0.21, 95% CI = 0.04-0.49); however, being attribute-affirmed decreased the tendency to confront the challenging task for students adopting a dominant PAG orientation (b = -0.76, p = 0.049). In addition, for students adopting a dominant MAG orientation or adopting high MAGs and high PAGs simultaneously, no difference was noted in the tendency to confront the task between participants in the control and attribute-affirmed conditions.

The Association Among Achievement Goal Orientations, Academic Performance, and Academic Well-Being Among Chinese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Learning motivation is a significant factor that ensures quality in medical education, and might affect the academic performance and well-being of medical students. This study aimed to explore the status of achievement goal orientations among medical students in China and to further identify the association among academic performance, academic well-being, and achievement goal orientations. Data were collected through a cross-sectional, anonymous survey conducted with 3,511 respondents (effective response rate = 81.7%), from four medical universities in China, and demographic factors, achievement goal orientations, academic performance, and academic well-being were assessed. The average score of achievement goal orientations of Chinese medical students suggested a difference in demographic factors, including sex, year of study, experience of leadership cadre, and family income. Both mastery and performance-avoidance goals were associated with academic performance, subjective academic stress, subjective learning adaptability, subjective sleep quality, and subjective well-being. Performance-approach goals were related to academic performance, subjective academic stress, and subjective learning adaptability. The achievement goal orientations of the medical students in this study were at a middle level. The findings emphasize the importance of mastery goals for promoting the academic performance and well-being of medical students. More care and attention toward achievement goal orientations can be beneficial for the improvement of the academic performance and well-being among medical students.

Directive Guidance as a Cultural Practice for Learning by Chinese-Heritage Babies

We provide a framework of analysis for Chinese ways of learning that extends beyond the individual level. The theoretical framework focuses on Confucian principles of <i>xiào</i> (孝, filial piety), <i>guăn</i> (管, to govern), and <i>dào dé guān</i> (道德觀, virtues), which leads us to argue that directive guidance as a cultural practice nourishes Chinese-heritage children’s learning as early as in infancy. To illustrate how directive guidance occurs in action for infants, we present an empirical study that examined the interaction of mother-infant dyads in Taipei, Taiwan, when they played with a challenging toy. The dyads co-enacted directive guidance more frequently than their European-American counterparts in the USA – through hand holding, intervening, and collaboration – while infants actively participate in the practice. We discuss the early development of strengths for learning that is fostered through culturally meaningful practices recurrent in parent-infant interaction.

Effect of a community of practice on knowledge sharing across boundaries: the mediating role of learning goals

Purpose

A community of practice (CoP) is believed to be a driver for knowledge creation but it can hinder knowledge sharing across boundaries. Drawing on social cognitive theory, this study aims to investigate how a CoP within a single unit promotes knowledge sharing with other units by examining the mediating effect of the members’ learning goals (LG).

Design/methodology/approach

Structural equation modeling was conducted using a two-wave survey data on nurses from eight Japanese hospitals (n = 263).

Findings

The results indicated that LG fully and positively mediated the effect of a CoP on the knowledge-sharing intention of one unit toward other units and that LG fully and negatively mediated the effect of a CoP on knowledge withholding (KW) from other units.

Practical implications

Knowledge managers need to note that intellectual benefits from experienced CoP can play a key role in reducing the perceived risks associated with members’ knowledge sharing and in creating effective knowledge sharing with other units.

Originality/value

The main contribution is to identify the process by which CoP promotes knowledge sharing and prevents KW across boundaries mediated through LG. This study is the first to quantitatively show how LG cross inter-professional barriers caused by CoPs.

Mindsets in health professions education: A scoping review

The growth mindset model has been linked with enhancing academic success in college students. A scoping review was conducted detailing evidence of the growth mindset model's application in health professions. Databases searched included: MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, Scopus, Conference Papers Index, Embase, and Education Database. A hand search was also carried out. 1296 articles were reviewed. Inclusion/exclusion resulted in 22 articles from health professions articles: medical education (10), nursing (3), veterinary (3), pharmacy (2), physiotherapy (1), and general health professions education (3). This study demonstrated that fixed mindset student learners may avoid constructive feedback, hide errors, and express negative maladaptive behaviors that threaten their learning. To cultivate an adaptive lifelong learning health professional, the growth mindset model shows promise and should be integrated into curricula. In closing, many articles were not empirical research. Implications: The growth mindset model shows promise for academic success in health professions education, but more robust studies are warranted.

The Curvilinear Relationships Between Top Decision Maker Goal Orientations and Firm Ambidexterity: Moderating Effect of Role Experience

Ambidextrous firms are those that can simultaneously manage exploitative and explorative innovation, which is why ambidexterity is key for firms that desire to pursue strategic entrepreneurship. Researchers have explored many of the reasons why some firms are more ambidextrous than others. However, little attention has been devoted to understanding how attributes of top decision makers can influence their firms' ambidexterity. By drawing on upper echelons theory and goal orientations research, we explain how firms' ambidexterity can be affected by top decision makers' motivations in achievement situations (i.e., goal orientations). Testing our hypotheses on a sample of 274 top decision makers of firms in the United States, we find that top decision makers' learning goal orientation - their desire to take risks and maximize learning-has an inverted U-shaped relationship with ambidexterity while top decision makers' performance prove goal orientation - their desire to demonstrate competence with existing skills - has a U-shaped relationship with ambidexterity. These effects are weaker for top decision makers who have greater role experience.

Effect of Intelligence Mindsets on Math Achievement for Chinese Primary School Students: Math Self-Efficacy and Failure Beliefs as Mediators

This study examined the relationship of intelligence mindsets to math achievement for primary school students in the Chinese educational context, as well as the mediating function of math self-efficacy and failure beliefs in this relationship. Participants included 466 fifth graders (231 boys and 235 girls) from two Chinese primary schools. Results indicated that boys had significantly higher mean levels of growth mindsets and math self-efficacy than girls, whereas boys had no statistically significant differences to girls on failure beliefs and math grade. Further, intelligence mindsets had a significant positive effect on math achievement, and failure beliefs and math self-efficacy played a full mediating role in the relationship between intelligence mindsets and math achievement. Moreover, intelligence mindsets affected math achievement through the chain mediating role of failure beliefs and math self-efficacy. These above findings contribute to advance our knowledge about the underlying mechanisms through which intelligence mindsets affect math achievement, which are of great significance to students' growth and current educational practice.