Patrick Gaudreau

Positive and negative affective states in a performance-related setting: Testing the factorial structure of the panas across two samples of french-canadian participants.

The objective of the present study was to compare alternative factorial structures of the French-Canadian version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988) across samples of athletes at different stages of a sport competition. The first sample (N = 305) was used to assess, compare, and improve the measurement model of the PANAS. The second sample (N = 217) was used to cross-validate the model that provided the best fit with the calibration sample. Results of confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a modified three-factor model with cross-loadings provided a better fit to the data than either the hypothesized or the modified two-factor models. This model was partially replicated on the second sample. Results of a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis have shown that the model was partially invariant across the two samples.

Bolstering Implementation Plans for the Long Haul: The Benefits of Simultaneously Boosting Self-Concordance or Self-Efficacy

Recent studies suggest that implementation planning exercises may not be as helpful for long-term, self-initiated goals as for short-term, assigned goals. Two studies used the personal goal paradigm to explore the impact of implementation plans on goal progress over time. Study 1 examined whether administering implementation plans in an autonomy supportive manner would facilitate goal progress relative to a neutral, control condition and a condition in which implementation plans were administered in a controlling manner. Study 2 examined whether combining implementation plans with a self-efficacy boosting exercise would facilitate goal progress relative to a neutral, control condition and a typical implementation condition. The results showed that implementation plans alone did not result in greater goal progress than a neutral condition but that the combination of implementation plans with either autonomy support or self-efficacy boosting resulted in significantly greater goal progress.

The self in change: A longitudinal investigation of coping and self-determination processes

On the basis of theoretical work on self-determination, coping, and the self, this study aimed at understanding the role of both structural and flexible self variables in the process of adapting to change, and the consequences of this adaptation process. It was hypothesized that, in a changing situation, global self-determination, as a structural aspect of the self, would predict the coping strategies used to deal with this life change. Coping, in turn, was hypothesized to represent an adaptation process mediating the associations between global self-determination and various consequences. The consequences investigated included changes in psychological well-being and in flexible aspects of the self (i.e., new identity, contextual self-determined motivation). Using a three-wave design, this study tested these hypotheses among students experiencing the transition to university. Results obtained through structural equation modeling involving true change procedures provided support for most of the anticipated associations.

Testing the Structure of Psychological Empowerment: Does Gender Make a Difference?

Psychological empowerment (PE) is presumed to be a second-order latent construct composed of four dimensions: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. Based on the results of two validation studies, it has been hypothesized that loadings of the four dimensions on PE could vary across gender groups. A multiple-group second-order confirmatory factor analysis was performed to verify if the factor structure of Spreitzer’s PE questionnaire was invariant between groups of 191 male and 200 female nurses. Results indicated that the structure of the PE questionnaire could be assumed invariant across genders. Directions for future research are discussed.

From goal motivation to goal progress: the mediating role of coping in the Self-Concordance Model

Abstract The present studies examined the mediating role of self-regulatory mechanisms in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress in the Self-Concordance Model. First, a systematic review, using meta-analytical path analysis, supported the mediating role of effort and action planning in the positive association between autonomous goal motivation and goal progress. Second, results from two additional empirical studies, using structural equation modeling, lent credence to the mediating role of coping in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress of university students. Autonomous goal motivation was positively associated with task-oriented coping, which predicted greater goal progress during midterm exams (Study 1, N=702) and at the end of the semester in a different sample (Study 2, N=167). Controlled goal motivation was associated with greater disengagement-oriented coping (Study 1 and Study 2) and lesser use of task-oriented coping (Study 2), which reduced goal progress. These results held up after controlling for perceived stress (Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of coping in the “inception-to-attainment” goal process because autonomous goal motivation indirectly rather than directly predicts goal progress of university students through their usage of task-oriented coping.

Canadian university students in wireless classrooms

Two studies were conducted to examine what undergraduate students do on their laptops during class time and the extent to which laptop usage behaviors are associated with academic success. In Study 1, a sample of 1129 students from a Canadian university completed a survey measuring prototypical behaviors emitted on laptops during class time. Results of factor analyses indicated that laptop behaviors can be regrouped in two dimensions: School related and school unrelated laptop utilization. School unrelated laptop behaviors were significantly associated with lower levels of self-reported academic achievement and satisfaction. School related laptop behaviors were positively associated with academic satisfaction. These results were invariant across different faculties on campus. In Study 2, another sample of 88 students was recruited to examine the longitudinal association between laptop behaviors and semester grade point average obtained at the end of the semester. Results of Study 2 showed that school unrelated laptop behaviors were prospectively associated with lower semester grade point average, even after controlling for a series of potentially confounding influences (i.e., self-regulation failure, motivational deficit, disorganized learning, internet addiction, and school disenchantment). Overall, these results provide theoretically important support to suggest that in-class laptop utilization is a unique and contemporary mode of learning that should not be treated as an epiphenomenon merely accountable and reducible to other sources of psychological influences. Students emit school related and unrelated behaviors on laptops during class.School unrelated laptop behaviors predict lower semester grade point average.School related laptop behaviors are associated with higher academic satisfaction.Results replicated across four faculties on campus.Laptop explains unique variance beyond other sources of psychological influence.

The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism: a comparison across Asian Canadians and European Canadians.

The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism posits that the 4 within-person combinations of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., pure SOP, mixed perfectionism, pure SPP, and nonperfectionism) can be distinctively associated with psychological adjustment. This study examined whether the relationship between the 4 subtypes of perfectionism proposed in the 2 × 2 model (Gaudreau & Thompson, 2010) and academic outcomes (i.e., academic satisfaction and grade-point average [GPA]) differed across 2 sociocultural groups: Asian Canadians and European Canadians. A sample of 697 undergraduate students (23% Asian Canadians) completed self-report measures of dispositional perfectionism, academic satisfaction, and GPA. Results replicated most of the 2 × 2 models hypotheses on ratings of GPA, thus supporting that nonperfectionism was associated with lower GPA than pure SOP (Hypothesis 1a) but with higher GPA than pure SPP (Hypothesis 2). Results also showed that mixed perfectionism was related to higher GPA than pure SPP (Hypothesis 3) but to similar levels as pure SOP, thus disproving Hypothesis 4. Furthermore, results provided evidence for cross-cultural differences in academic satisfaction. While all 4 hypotheses were supported among European Canadians, only Hypotheses 1a and 3 were supported among Asian Canadians. Future lines of research are discussed in light of the importance of acknowledging the role of culture when studying the influence of dispositional perfectionism on academic outcomes.

A Point-by-Point Analysis of Performance in a Fencing Match: Psychological Processes Associated With Winning and Losing Streaks

This study aimed to revisit the complex nature of serial dependency of performance during a match, examining the prospective associations between psychological processes and subsequent performance at the within-person level of analysis, and explore whether psychological processes are associated with the likelihood of winning series of points. A process-oriented sequential approach was used with 16 elite fencers during a simulated competition. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that serial dependency of performance fluctuates within a match. Results of a Bayesian multilevel structural equation model showed that prior performance subsequently influenced psychological processes. Although psychological processes did not predict performance in the subsequent point, successive winnings were associated with higher perceived control and task-oriented coping and lower negative affectivity compared with both losing streaks and nonstreaks. Overall, serial dependencies of performance are nonstationary during a match whereas psychological processes significantly differ in episodes of winning after winning versus losing after losing.

Trajectories of Affective States in Adolescent Hockey Players: Turning Point and Motivational Antecedents

This study examined longitudinal trajectories of positive and negative affective states with a sample of 265 adolescent elite hockey players followed across 3 measurement points during the 1st 11 weeks of a season. Latent class growth modeling, incorporating a time-varying covariate and a series of predictors assessed at the onset of the season, was used to chart out distinct longitudinal trajectories of affective states. Results provided evidence for 3 trajectories of positive affect and 3 trajectories of negative affect. Two of these trajectories were deflected by team selection, a seasonal turning point occurring after the 1st measurement point. Furthermore, the trajectories of positive and negative affective states were predicted by theoretically driven predictors assessed at the start of the season (i.e., self-determination, need satisfaction, athletic identity, and school identity). These results contribute to a better understanding of the motivational, social, and identity-related processes associated with the distinct affective trajectories of athletes participating in elite sport during adolescence.

Implementation planning and progress on physical activity goals: the mediating role of life-management strategies.

This 4-week prospective study examined whether the use of life-management strategies mediates the relationship between implementation planning and short-term progress on physical activity goals. In particular, the strategies of elective selection, compensation, and loss-based selection were disentangled to assess their specific mediating effects. Results from a sample of 131 undergraduate students showed that, as a composite, life-management strategies fully mediated the relationship between planning and goal progress. More specifically, decomposing the effects demonstrated that only elective selection and compensation mediated the association between planning and greater progress on a personal physical activity goal. Results are discussed in light of their practical implications and contributions to the personal goal literature.