External orientation was significantly related to feelings of political incapability. Early personal orientation toward problem solving led to generalized expectations providing long-range motivational and behavioral patterns for individuals throughout life. (Author/NRB)

Research has shown that attributing failure to lack of ability leads to lower motivation than does attributing the failure to lack of effort. An attributional model of motivation and performance following failure was tested with college students (N=63), who were preselected on the basis of their attributional styles for interpersonal failures, as…

Identification of factors contributing to the timing of first contraceptive use by girls is an important consideration in structuring primary prevention programs to reduce teenage pregnancies. Interviews with 120 girls aged 12-19 in a study of sexual, contraceptive, and pregnancy decision making covered six areas: (1) demographic information; (2)…

"Will" is defined in this paper as the capacity to decide how to behave based on a processing of relevant information. A sequence of motivated behavior begins with informational inputs or stimuli. These come from three sources: the environment, one's physiology, and one's memory. These inputs lead to the formation of motives or awareness of a…

In order to give the psychological conception of alienation greater cogency relative to the influence of sociological alienation, research is needed that ties alienation attitudes to individual personal behavior. It was hypothesized that the stronger the alienation attitudes of people, the weaker will be their exploratory behavior. Thus,…

In self-regulated learning, metacognitive components are necessary but insufficient. There is a need for a strong learning intention which can compete with other goals, interests, and distracting stimuli. Task accomplishment is an important factor in continued motivation and intention. (JAZ)

A research study examined whether the locus of control orientation of high school and junior high school students could be modified through the incorporation of prescribed activities within the routine of the regular classroom. (JN)

Learned helplessness is a state of passivity and loss of persistence resulting from individuals' perceptions, over a period of time, that they cannot control outcomes of events nor can their efforts lead to attainment of goals. Research studies are reviewed and implications for the study of learning disabilities are evaluated. (MH)

Self-evaluation is thought to play a major role in personality and motivation. Preliminary experience with success or failure, levels of aspiration, attributions for performance, and locus of control may all be interrelated factors in human motivation. After receiving success, failure, or no feedback on a concept formation task, subjects (N=90)…

Attribution theory suggests that attributional styles may contribute to the motivational and performance deficits frequently observed in depressed and lonely populations. An Attributional Style Assessment Test (ASAT) was created and administered to college students, along with the Beck Depression Inventory and the UCLA Loneliness Scale.…

This study assesses the effects of three kinds of verbal plans, temptation-inhibiting plans, reward-oriented plans, and task-facilitating plans, on children's resistance to temptation. Each plan was studied in an elaborated and an unelaborated form. Subjects were 70 four-year olds, 35 boys and 35 girls. The major piece of apparatus employed was a…

Three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of providing extrinsic rewards for engaging in an activity on children's subsequent intrinsic interest in that activity. In each study, preschool children were asked to engage in an activity of initial intrinsic interest in individual experimental sessions. The children agreed to engage in…

This document is a literature review discussing research on locus of control, particularly as it relates to early childhood education. Some measures of children's sense of locus of control are discussed, including the Optimism-Pessimism Test Instrument and the Stanford Preschool Internal-External Scale. A discussion of how an educator's sense of…

Research has found that differential attributional styles exist between depressed and nondepressed populations. Depressed (N=32) and nondepressed (N=32) undergraduate female students were selected on the basis of scores on the Beck Depression Inventory and Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist. Participants performed a key press task where the…

Studied conditions and consequences, the characteristics of agentic (volitional, teleological) human behavior in investigations of weight control, vocational exploration, and eating disorders. Demonstrated the ability of individuals professing eating and exercise problems, to exhibit control; and in separate study examining personality factors and…