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Psychology 320: Gender Psychology

Lecture 48

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Achievement:

1. Are there sex differences in achievement motivation and fear of success?

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2. describe methodological flaws associated with early research on sex differences in achievement motivation and fear of success.

1. define the terms “achievement motivation” and “fear of success.”

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to:

3. review present research findings regarding sex similarities in achievement motivation and fear of success.

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Are there sex differences in achievement motivation and fear of success?

• Research has demonstrated that females are less likely to occupy “prestigious” and high-paying

occupational positions than males.

• Some theorists and laypersons believe that this discrepancy results from a weaker achievement motivation and a greater fear of success among females than males. Is this true?

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1. Achievement Motivation

• Achievement motivation has typically been measured using projective tests (e.g., Thematic Apperception Test, Morgan & Murray, 1935; Picture Story Exercises, Schultheiss & Pang, 2007).

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Thematic Apperception Images

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Instructions for the TAT:

“I am going to show you some pictures, one at a time, and your task will be to make up a story for each card. In your story, be sure to tell what has led up to the event shown in the picture, describe what is happening at the moment, what the characters are feeling and thinking, and give the outcome. Tell a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. Do you understand? I will write your stories verbatim as you tell them. Here’s the first card.”

-- Murray, 1943

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• Early research on the achievement motivation largely involved male participants (Atkinson, 1958; Featehr, 1961; McClelland, 1961).

The scant research that examined both sexes (e.g., McClelland et al., 1953) found that:

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achievement motive scores related to outcome measures (e.g., test scores, grades, persistence in the face of failure) similarly among females and males.

among females, achievement motive scores did not increase when “achievement-involving” task

instructions were used.

among males, achievement motive scores increased when “achievement-involving” task instructions were used.

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• On the basis of the latter two findings, theorists concluded that the achievement motivation is weaker

among females than males.

• This conclusion was later questioned by feminist researchers who noted flaws in early research on the

achievement motivation:

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(a) The domains of achievement that were studied (e.g., workplace achievement) were more relevant to

males than females.

(b) The characteristics that were used to define achievement motivation (e.g., assertiveness, self-sufficiency, competitiveness) conflicted with the characteristics of the female gender role.

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• More recent research (e.g., Langan-Fox & Grant, 2006; Pang, 2005; Salili, 1996) has addressed these flaws by using domains of achievement relevant to both sexes (e.g., workplace and relationship achievement) and using characteristics to define achievement motivation that do not conflict with the female gender role (e.g., self-improvement).

This research has demonstrated that the sexes do not differ in achievement motivation.

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2. Fear of Success

• Early researchers argued that females are more likely than males to fear success:

Horner (1972) maintained that females are more likely than males to fear success because success (i.e., achievement) is inconsistent with the female gender role.

To test her theory, Horner asked female and male participants to complete a projective storytelling exercise:

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“Anne (John) is at the top of her (his) class in medical school ….”

Participants responses were coded for the presence or absence of negative outcomes.

Found that 65% of females but only 10% of males identified negative outcomes associated with success.

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• In addition to these findings, Horner (1972) found that females who obtained relatively high scores on fear of success:

indicated that they would prefer to tell a male that they received a “C” rather than an “A” on an exam.

performed worse on a task when working with males than when working with females.

were more likely to change from a non-traditional college major to a traditional college major over the course of their study.

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• Although Horner’s theory was widely publicized by the popular press, researchers soon identified several problems with her work:

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Horner’s research methods appeared to tap awareness of the negative outcomes associated with success for women rather than a fear of success:

Male participants who created a story about Anne included many negative outcomes for her success; female participants who created a story about John included few negative outcomes for his success (Monahan et al., 1974; Pfost & Fiore, 1990; Sancho & Hewitt, 1990).

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Horner’s research methods appeared to tap discomfort with gender-role incongruent behaviour rather than a fear of success:

Male participants who created a story about John who “is at the top of his class in nursing school” included many negative outcomes for his success (Cherry & Deauz, 1978)

Sex differences in fear of success did not emerge when participants were asked to create a story about Anne or John who had succeeded, but for whom no other situation information was provided (Gravenkemper & Paludi, 1983).

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• On the basis of the latter findings, contemporary theorists maintain that females are no more likely than males to fear success.

Rather, both females and males are more likely to fear the negative consequences associated with achievement in gender-incongruent roles than in gender-congruent roles.

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Achievement:

1. Are there sex differences in achievement motivation and fear of success?