Achievement Goals, Locus of Control, and Academic Success in Economics

Abstract

An underexplored area within economics education is the influence that student motivation, fears, and feeling of control may have on learning outcomes and affective measures such as interest and enjoyment. This neglect in the economics literature is particularly striking given that such topics have received much attention in educational psychology over the past few decades. This study applies tools and concepts from educational psychology in an inquiry into their influence in introductory and intermediate microeconomics. Specifically, I investigate the roles of achievement goals, locus of control, and fear of failure in influencing student learning outcomes and affinity for economics. According Eric M. Anderman and Christopher A. Wolters (2006, 370), achievement goal theory “has emerged as a prominent explanatory theory within the motivation literature over the last 25 years” whose main interest is concerned with reasons why students choose to engage in particular tasks. Within achievement goal theory students are said to be motivated to either develop a skill, termed mastery orientation, or demonstrate a skill, termed performance orientation. Students with a mastery orientation focus on learning and understanding, while students with a performance orientation focus on creating an aura of competence (Avi Kaplan and Martin L. Maehr 2007). For students with a performance orientation, competence is demonstrated through comparison with others, while for mastery oriented students, the comparison is to an internal standard or an absolute level (Kaplan and Maehr 2007). ReseaRch in economic education