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Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Performance goals

Overview

  • Influence: Performance goals
  • Domain: Student
  • Sub-Domain: Beliefs, attitudes, and dispositions
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Likely to have a small positive impact
  • Influence Definition: Performance goals seek to demonstrate or compare’s one ability to others. Students who set performance goals are often focused on winning, looking good (looking smart), and being evaluated well (getting good grades).

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 9
  • Number of studies: 529
  • Number of students: 0
  • Number of effects: 478
  • Effect size: 0.03

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Human Performance van Yperen, Blaga, & Postmes Netherlands A meta-analysis of the impact of situationally induced achievement goals on task performance. 2014 Performance approach 98 0 106 0.10
Human Performance van Yperen, Blaga, & Postmes Netherlands A meta-analysis of the impact of situationally induced achievement goals on task performance. 2014 Performance avoidance 98 0 31 -0.07
Journal of Applied Psychology Payne, Youngcourt, & Beaubien USA A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net 2007 Avoidance goals 12 0 12 -0.10
Human Performance van Yperen, Blaga, & Postmes Netherlands A meta-analysis of the impact of situationally induced achievement goals on task performance. 2014 Performance goals on achievement 98 0 106 0.20
Journal of Applied Psychology Payne, Youngcourt, & Beaubien USA A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net. 2007 Performance goals on achievement 44 0 44 0.02
Review of Educational Research Rolland USA Synthesizing the evidence on classroom goal structures in middle and secondary schools: A meta-analysis and narrative review 2012 Performance goals on achievement 10 0 10 -0.22
Korean Journal of Educational Psychology Song Korea A meta analysis of achievement goal-academic achievement relationships. 2012 Performance access 46 0 46 0.29
Korean Journal of Educational Psychology Song Korea A meta analysis of achievement goal-academic achievement relationships. 2012 Performance avoidance 39 0 39 -0.21
Journal of Educational Psychology Huang Taiwan Discriminant and criterion-related validity of achievement goals in predicting academic achievement: A meta-analysis. 2012 Achieving motivation 84 0 84 0.22
TOTAL/AVERAGE 529 0 478 0.03

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 4 5 1 3 3
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