Help seeking, self-esteem, and achievement motivation: An attributional analysis

Richard C. Tessler*, Shalom H. Schwartz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

131 Scopus citations

Abstract

Examined whether people in need will seek help from an available source based on an attributional analysis of when seeking help is experienced as threatening to self-esteem. 48 female undergraduates, given the Achievement Risk Preference Scale, perceived that they were performing poorly on a social judgment task and that available guidelines could help them. Help was sought significantly more (a) when it was reasonable to attribute responsibility for failure externally rather than to the self; (b) when the attributes linked to help seeking were peripheral rather than central to Ss' self-conception (only among Ss with high self-esteem); (c) by Ss with low rather than high self-esteem (only when help seeking reflected on central attributes); and (d) by Ss with low rather than high achievement motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)318-326
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume21
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1972

Keywords

  • attribution to self vs. external area of failure &
  • help seeking, threat to self-esteem &
  • high vs. low achievement motivation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Help seeking, self-esteem, and achievement motivation: An attributional analysis'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this