Striving for Excellence Sometimes Hinders High Achievers: Performance-Approach Goals Deplete Arithmetical Performance in Students with High Working Memory Capacity.

ABSTRACT: We tested whether the goal to attain normative superiority over other students, referred to as performance-approach goals, is particularly distractive for high-Working Memory Capacity (WMC) students-that is, those who are used to being high achievers. Indeed, WMC is positively related to high-order cognitive performance and academic success, a record of success that confers benefits on high-WMC as compared to low-WMC students. We tested whether such benefits may turn out to be a burden under performance-approach goal pursuit. Indeed, for high achievers, aiming to rise above others may represent an opportunity to reaffirm their positive status-a stake susceptible to trigger disruptive outcome concerns that interfere with task processing. Results revealed that with performance-approach goals

SUBMITTER: Crouzevialle M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4583442 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature