The Effects of Classroom Competition on Achievement Motivation.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of competition on learning motivation among Chinese students in a classroom setting. The participants (N=52) were 7th-grade students from 2 Hong Kong secondary schools in a middle-lower class neighborhood. The students were randomly assigned to either competitive or non-competitive conditions in a 2-hour Chinese typewriting course. Their goal orientation, performance, task enjoyment, achievement attribution, test anxiety, and self-evaluation after failure were measured during the course. Compared to their counterparts in non-competitive conditions, students in competitive conditions had better performance for easy tasks. However, they were more performance-oriented and more likely to sacrifice learning opportunities for better performance. They were also prone to having more negative self-evaluations after failure. Although there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups of students in task enjoyment, achievement attribution, and test anxiety, the direction of the differences was consistently unfavorable for students in competitive conditions. The findings of the present study were primarily consistent with the predictions of goal theory in achievement motivation. Competitiveness induces performance goals and a more negative self-evaluation after failure for Chinese students in a classroom setting than it would for Western students in a laboratory setting. (Contains 1 figure, 2 tables, and 25 references.) (Author/JDM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. Running Head: COMPETITION AND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION The Effects of Classroom Competition on Achievement Motivation Shui-fong Lam, Pui-shan Yim, Josephine S. F. Law U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 13 This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. ID Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) The University of Hong Kong Rebecca W. Y. Cheung The Chinese University of Hong Kong The study was supported by the Quality Education Fund of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Authors wish to thank Anthony Lam for his technical support in developing the computer program and Rebecca Cheng for her assistance in data collection. Send correspondence to Shui-fong Lam, Department of Psychology, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong. E-mail: [e-mail].