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Whom Are You Trying to Impress? Pursuing Performance Goals for Parents, Teachers, or Classmates

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Title: Whom Are You Trying to Impress? Pursuing Performance Goals for Parents, Teachers, or Classmates
Language: English
Authors: Ryan T. Meurlin, Corwin Senko (ORCID 0000-0002-8417-3421)
Source: Journal of Educational Psychology. 2025 117(4):663-678.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 16
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Student Motivation, College Students, Achievement Need, Parent Student Relationship, Teacher Student Relationship, Peer Relationship, Goal Orientation
DOI: 10.1037/edu0000935
ISSN: 0022-0663
1939-2176
Abstract: For many years, achievement goal theorists have sought to situate students' goals within the broader social context. Doing so must consider students' relationships with their parents, teachers, and classmates, as each can impact which goals the students choose to adopt and their experience during goal pursuit. The goal complex approach is well-suited to this task. It asserts that a performance goal's (i.e., striving to outperform others) effects depend on the reason for pursuing it: The goal predicts desirable outcomes when pursued for autonomous reasons (e.g., personal pleasure), but undesirable ones when pursued for controlling reasons (e.g., to impress others). Those studies, however, have ignored the audience that students are trying to impress. This study explored if a controlling performance goal complex's (a) prevalence and (b) outcomes depend on whether the student is seeking to impress parents, teachers, or classmates. University students (N = 321) completed measures of autonomous and controlling performance goal complexes, the latter done separately for each of the three audiences, followed by measures of desirable (e.g., interest, efficacy) and undesirable (e.g., anxiety, help avoidance) outcomes. Students with a controlling performance goal had their parents foremost in mind as the audience to impress. Moreover, the outcomes predicted by the controlling performance goal depended on the audience: Maladaptive outcomes when trying to impress parents, but largely neutral effects when trying to impress classmates and several adaptive outcomes when trying to impress teachers. Discussion considers multiple new directions and implications for the goal complex model.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1507081
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Whom Are You Trying to Impress? Pursuing Performance Goals for Parents, Teachers, or Classmates
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ryan+T%2E+Meurlin%22">Ryan T. Meurlin</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Corwin+Senko%22">Corwin Senko</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8417-3421">0000-0002-8417-3421</externalLink>)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Educational+Psychology%22"><i>Journal of Educational Psychology</i></searchLink>. 2025 117(4):663-678.
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  Data: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
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  Data: 16
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  Data: 2025
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+Motivation%22">Student Motivation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Students%22">College Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Achievement+Need%22">Achievement Need</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Parent+Student+Relationship%22">Parent Student Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Student+Relationship%22">Teacher Student Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Peer+Relationship%22">Peer Relationship</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Goal+Orientation%22">Goal Orientation</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1037/edu0000935
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  Data: 0022-0663<br />1939-2176
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  Label: Abstract
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  Data: For many years, achievement goal theorists have sought to situate students' goals within the broader social context. Doing so must consider students' relationships with their parents, teachers, and classmates, as each can impact which goals the students choose to adopt and their experience during goal pursuit. The goal complex approach is well-suited to this task. It asserts that a performance goal's (i.e., striving to outperform others) effects depend on the reason for pursuing it: The goal predicts desirable outcomes when pursued for autonomous reasons (e.g., personal pleasure), but undesirable ones when pursued for controlling reasons (e.g., to impress others). Those studies, however, have ignored the audience that students are trying to impress. This study explored if a controlling performance goal complex's (a) prevalence and (b) outcomes depend on whether the student is seeking to impress parents, teachers, or classmates. University students (N = 321) completed measures of autonomous and controlling performance goal complexes, the latter done separately for each of the three audiences, followed by measures of desirable (e.g., interest, efficacy) and undesirable (e.g., anxiety, help avoidance) outcomes. Students with a controlling performance goal had their parents foremost in mind as the audience to impress. Moreover, the outcomes predicted by the controlling performance goal depended on the audience: Maladaptive outcomes when trying to impress parents, but largely neutral effects when trying to impress classmates and several adaptive outcomes when trying to impress teachers. Discussion considers multiple new directions and implications for the goal complex model.
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  Data: 2026
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        PageCount: 16
        StartPage: 663
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Student Motivation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Achievement Need
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      – SubjectFull: Parent Student Relationship
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher Student Relationship
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      – SubjectFull: Peer Relationship
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      – SubjectFull: Goal Orientation
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      – TitleFull: Whom Are You Trying to Impress? Pursuing Performance Goals for Parents, Teachers, or Classmates
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