TY - JOUR
T1 - What Young People Want to Know When
T2 - Effects of Mastery and Ability Goals on Interest in Different Kinds of Social Comparisons
AU - Butler, Ruth
PY - 1992/6
Y1 - 1992/6
N2 - Integrating developments in social comparison and achievement theories suggested that ability goals will promote ability-appraisal and self-serving functions of social comparison and that mastery goals will enhance interest in social comparisons that can promote learning. A novel design let Ss choose between different kinds of social information. Seventy-eight Israeli 6th graders performed a task in a mastery or ability goal condition and then examined tables providing social information relevant to learning about the task, to normative ability assessment, or to identifying their personal style. As predicted, mastery Ss spent longer at the task table than ability Ss, who spent longer at the normative table, especially if they had performed well. Goal conditions also affected relations between time at the normative table and perceived competence and interest in the task. Implications of this framework and methodology for social comparison theory are discussed.
AB - Integrating developments in social comparison and achievement theories suggested that ability goals will promote ability-appraisal and self-serving functions of social comparison and that mastery goals will enhance interest in social comparisons that can promote learning. A novel design let Ss choose between different kinds of social information. Seventy-eight Israeli 6th graders performed a task in a mastery or ability goal condition and then examined tables providing social information relevant to learning about the task, to normative ability assessment, or to identifying their personal style. As predicted, mastery Ss spent longer at the task table than ability Ss, who spent longer at the normative table, especially if they had performed well. Goal conditions also affected relations between time at the normative table and perceived competence and interest in the task. Implications of this framework and methodology for social comparison theory are discussed.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0001686533&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0022-3514.62.6.934
DO - 10.1037/0022-3514.62.6.934
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AN - SCOPUS:0001686533
SN - 0022-3514
VL - 62
SP - 934
EP - 943
JO - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
IS - 6
ER -