Atkinson's Theory Of Achievement Motivation Case Study

Atkinson’s Theory of Achievement Motivation
Like Hull and Lewin, Atkinson tried to segregate the elements of behavior and then to specify the mathematical relations between the components of his theory. However, Atkinson deviated from Hull and Lewin in focusing on individual differences in achievement motivation. Achievement motivation is a theoretical model intended “to explain how the motive to achieve and the motive to avoid failure influence behavior in a situation where performance is evaluated against some standard of excellence” (Atkinson, 1957, p. 371).
More precisely, Achievement-oriented activity is activity undertaken by an individual with the anticipation that his performance will be assessed in terms of certain standard of excellence.

T-f = MAF x Pf x If
Similar to the equation for tendency to achieve success, this equation for tendency to avoid failure is accompanied by a special assumption. In this case, that assumption is that “the incentive value of failure is more negative the easier the task” (Atkinson, 1966, p. 331) (i.e., Is = – Ps). The implications that followed are
1. The tendency to avoid failure should be strongest when a task is one of intermediate difficulty, but the difference in strength of tendency to avoid failure that is attributable to a difference in the difficulty of the task (Pf) will be substantial only when MAF is relatively strong.
2. When the difficulty of a task is held constant, the tendency to avoid failure is stronger when MAF is strong than when it is weak, but the difference in strength of tendency to avoid failure that is attributable to a difference in motive (MAF) will be substantial only when the task is one of intermediate difficulty. (Atkinson, 1966, pp.

He believed that a psychological theory should have a psychological motivational principle. Rotter (1954) chose the empirical law of effect as his motivating factor. The law of effect states that people are motivated to seek out positive stimulation, or reinforcement, and to avoid unpleasant stimulation. Rotter combined behaviorism and the study of personality, without relying on physiological instincts or drives as a motive force.
The main idea in Julian Rotter's social learning theory is that personality represents an interaction of the individual with his or her environment. To understand behavior, one must take both the individual (i.e., his or her life history of learning and experiences) and the environment (i.e., those stimuli that the person is aware of and responding to) into account. Rotter describes personality as a relatively stable set of potentials for responding to situations in a particular