Achievement Motivation

1. Achievement Motivation
Sports Psychology
A2 Physical Education

2. Task 1: complete worksheet
GIANT KILLERS!!
Barnsley vs. Chelsea in the 6
th
round of the FA Cup
The result of his match was not as expected.
List the reasons you think Barnsly got this result.
..\..\sport video\Barnsly vs Chelsea AM.mp4

3. Gill (1986)
‘A person who has high levels of achievement
motivation would have a tendency to strive for
success, persist in the face of failure and
experience pride a accomplishments.’ (D.Gill)
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE LIKE THIS?

4. AM Continued...
Murray (1938) first used the term achievement motivation
and indentified a performers need for achievement as being
linked to their personality.
Competition is described as a ‘achievement situation’; in
other words a the performer is putting themselves in a
situation where they have the potential to succeed or fail, but
still a situation whereby achievement can be measured.
Achievement can still take place in non – competitive
situations.
In either situation; there are still people that are more willing
to put themselves into the ‘achievement situations’ and can
be labelled as ‘achievement orientated’.

5. Atkinson's Interactionist approach
Where have we heard the term Interactionist
before?
What do you expect Atkinson's approach to be?

6. Atkinson’s Interactionist Approach
You have been playing tennis for four years at your local club.
Your next league match is tomorrow…
YOU vs. Serena Williams

7. Situational component of AM
Atkinson recognises just as a performers personality (made
up of trait characteristics) will effect performance; so will the
situation the performer finds themselves in (Interactionist).
He claims that a performer will weigh up:
The probability of success
The incentive value of that success
If you were playing a singles match against Rafael
Nadal:
What is the probability of success?
What is the incentive value of that success?

8. Atkinson personality components of
Achievement Motivation
There are two parts to this approach:
Personality Situational
Need to achieve (N.Ach) Probability of success
Need to avoid failure(n.Af) Incentive value of
success

9. TASK: What do you think the characteristics of
each personality type are?
n.Ach n.Af

10. Personality component:
Comparison of a n.Ach & n.Af
n.Ach n.Af
Seeks challenges
Standards are important
Persists for longer
Values feedback
Enjoys evaluation situation (likes to be
tested)
Not afraid of failure
Takes responsibility for own actions
Optimistic
Confident
Task goal – orientated
Attributes performance to internal factors
e.g. Success = effort failure = lack of effort
Avoids challenge – takes easy option
Dislikes 50 – 50 situation
Gives up easily
Does not like feedback
Dislikes evaluation situations
Performs worse in evaluation situations
Avoids personal responsibility
Blames failure on external factors e.g. “The
rain is effecting my vision” or “I don't play
well on this surface”
Pessimistic
Low confidence
Takes a long time over a task
Outcome goal orientated

11. If a performer displays a high motive to achieve (n.Ach) they
will tend to have ‘approach behaviour’
Approach behaviour: the performer is motivated
to attempt challenging situations even if they may
fail.
If a performer has a low motive to achieve and is concerned
about being evaluated (n.Af) they may have ‘avoidance
behaviour’.
Avoidance behaviour: the performer is motivated
to protect their self – esteem and will avoid
situations where they may be evaluated.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR A COACH TO
ENCOURAGE APPROACH BEHAVIOUR?

12. Achievement Motivation
Achievement motivation is a measurement of what drives us to
succeed or hang back/play safe.
Achievement strives to answer questions such as:
Why is it that some performers achieve and some do not?
Why are certain performers driven to be more successful
than others?

13. Task 3: n.Ach link to elite sport
Can you think of a performer who you
would describe as having that n.Ach
characteristic’s?
OR
Can you think of a situation in sport
which would display whether you are a
risk taker (n.Ach) or you hang
back/take the easy option? (n.Af)

14. Sporting examples...
Golf
You are teeing off and there is a water between your tee and
the green.
Do you play the ball short and sacrifice a shot? Play it safe
OR
Do you attempt to drive the ball over the water to the green?

15. Are you a n.Ach or a n.Af?

16. Achievement Motivation
Homework
Due next Thursday 24
th
Sept.
Describe the personality characteristics that are typical of Nach approach;
and situational factors that would encourage a ‘need to achieve’
approach. Use practical examples to illustrate your answer.
(5)
Use examples from team games to show how a coach would try to ensure
that the players in the squad to have high levels of achievement
motivation.
(4)
Exam technique:
Take account of the number of marks available for each question.
Check how many ‘aspects/subjects’ their are in the question
Note the need for practical examples and the context of the examples
Begin each comment that you think will gain you a mark as a separate
indented paragraph
Use technical/specialist language