LEVEL OF ASPIRATION AND PERFORMANCE VARIABILITY

MALE AND FEMALE SS WERE TESTED INDIVIDUALLY IN A TRADITIONAL LEVEL OF ASPIRATION SITUATION. E COMPLETELY CONTROLLED S'S PERFORMANCE SO THAT IT WAS EITHER HIGH, MEDIUM, OR LOW. MEASURES OF N ACHIEVEMENT, DEBILITATING OR FACILITATING ANXIETY, INTOLERANCE OF AMBIGUITY, AND CATEGORY WIDTH WERE AVAILABLE. A NUMBER OF ASPIRATION MEASURES WERE EMPLOYED. RESULTS SUGGEST THAT UNDER THE CONDITION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE VARIABILITY, SS IN WHOM BY ASSUMPTION THE MOTIVE TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS IS STRONGER THAN THE MOTIVE TO AVOID FAILURE TEND TO SET HIGHER ASPIRATIONS, TO SHOW SMALLER SHIFTS IN LEVELS OF ASPIRATION FOLLOWING SUCCESS AND FAILURE, AND TO MAKE FEWER ATYPICAL RESPONSES THAN SS HAVING THE REVERSE MOTIVATION. THERE ARE NO SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ASPIRATION MEASURES AND PERSONALITY VARIABLES IN THE LOW-PERFORMANCE-VARIABILITY CONDITION. SS TEND TO BE LESS RESPONSIVE TO SUCCESS AND FAILURE AND TO MAKE MORE ATYPICAL RESPONSES IN THE LOW-VARIABILITY CONDITION. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN ASPIRATION MEASURES AND PERSONALITY VARIABLES ARE MORE LIKELY TO APPEAR UNDER HIGH-VARIABILITY CONDITIONS. WHERE PERFORMANCE VARIABILITY IS LOW, ASPIRATION IS MORE IN THE NATURE OF A COGNITIVE JUDGMENT DETERMINED BY PERFORMANCE. (18 REF.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).