Roald Nygård

Assessment of Achievement Motives: Comments and Suggestions.

Abstract Nygard, R. & Gjesme, T. 1973. Assessment of Achievement Motives: Comments and Suggestions. Scand. J. educ. Res. 17, 39‐46. Measuring instruments usually employed in achievement motivation research are reviewed and appraised. The following conclusions are drawn; (a) the validity of the need for achievement tests, especially when used among females, is questionable; (b) the objective tests assumed to indicate the motive to approach success (Ms) are too little directed toward the affects, and too much directed toward the criterion in terms of behavior in performance situations; (c) the validity of objective tests assumed to measure the motive to avoid failure (Mf) seems questionable as far as females are concerned; (d) objective tests refer to specific situations (usually school situations) and thereby the scores reflect the degree of motivation more than the strength of the underlying motive. Suggestions for construction of new instruments are offered.

Learning to have less pain - is it possible? A one-year follow-up study of the effects of a personal construct group learning programme on patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.

A randomised controlled study with the objective to explore the effects of a group learning programme based on a phenomenological epistemology and personal construct theory. Main outcome measures were: experienced pain, pain coping strategies, absenteeism, disability pension and health care consumption. One hundred and twenty-one patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and high absenteeism were included in this study. The intervention group (n=77) consisted of nine smaller groups with 6-10 persons in each and were counselled by health personnel with special training. The control group consisted of 44 persons. The learning programme emphasised awareness, possible relations between bodily symptoms, emotions, mind and life situation, and change of focus from pain and disability to resources and potentials. One year after the end of the learning programme (T3), patients in the intervention group reported significant pain reduction, increased pain-coping abilities and a higher reduction of health care consumption than the control group (P<0.05). Absenteeism was not significantly reduced compared to the control group, but there were fewer persons receiving disability pension in the intervention group at T3 (38 versus 59%) (P<0.05). This group-learning programme should be considered an important adjunct to the therapy of patients with chronic muscular pain.

Psychological distress and employment status. Effects of a group learning programme for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain

Seventy-seven patients participated in a group intervention programme counselled by the occupational health service personnel in a randomized controlled trial. The educational programme was inspired by personal construct theory that calls attention to the human capacity to redefine and reconstruct the meaning of any situation or symptom. A significant reduction in psychological distress was obtained at treatment completion and at 1-year follow-up. At follow-up a significant group × work status interaction effect was found, and also a mean reduction of distress among both working and non-working participants in the intervention group, whereas in the control group only those who received disability benefits reported a reduction in psychological distress. Distress at baseline significantly predicted work status at follow-up. An intervention programme such as the one applied in this study may reduce distress and help patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain to remain in their jobs.

The Achievement Motives Scale (AMS): theoretical basis and results from a first try‐out of a Czech form

Abstract The achievement motive concept refers to a relatively stable personality characteristic in terms of a capacity to anticipate affects in achievement situations. The motive to achieve success (M s ) refers to the individuals capacity to anticipate positive affects, and the motive to avoid failure (M f ) refers to a capacity to anticipate negative affects in achievement situations. Based, among other things, on the conceptualizations of motives, a measurement was constructed to tap the two aspects (M s and M f ) of motivation. Over the years the scale has been translated to several languages and used in a number of studies. The Czech version of the scale is an adapted translation of the English one, and was administered to 179 pupils in the sixth grade in 1989. Further, the subjects were retested after an interval of 12 weeks. The analyses indicate that the psychometric properties of the Czech version of AMS are promising.

The Agent-Pawn Construct: Basic Viewpoints and Preliminary Scale Development Work.

Abstract The paper deals with a project aimed at developing a scale for measuring an individuals tendency to construct himself either as an agent, an inner‐directed, free, self‐determining being, responsible for his own actions, or as a pawn, an outer‐directed creature, pushed around by forces over which he feels that he has no control. Related constructs are discussed and results from a first try‐out of a Likert‐type agent‐pawn scale (APS) in a group of students participating in a programmed learning project are reported. The internal consistency of the scale is satisfactory. A validity examination relating the APS scores to the scores on a well‐established achievement motives scale (AMS) also reveals promising convergence and discriminability qualities. [1]Requests for reprints should be sent to Roald Nygard, Institute for Educational Research, University of Oslo, PO Box 1092, Blindern, N‐0317 Oslo 3, Norway.

The Person‐Situation Issue. Endler's Rejection of Alker's Specificity‐Consistency Claim Once More 1 2

Abstract Nygard, R. 1979. The Person‐Situation Issue. Endlers Rejection of Alkers Specificity‐Consistency Claim Once More. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 23, 185‐198. After different conceptualizations of behavior in terms of person and situation variables have been outlined, Endlers (1973) response to Alkers (1972) arguments on situational specificity as a personality variable is discussed. It is shown that Endlers data do not warrant the conclusions drawn by him, that Alkers claim does not imply greater individual differences in behavior within groups of abnormals than within groups of normals, and that the idea of situational specificity as a personality variable means that behavior is explained in terms of personality by situation interactions. It is argued that there is no antagonism between interactionbm and conditioned situationism or personologism. Alkers claim is expected to have a capacity to enrich the interactional approach found in achievement motivation research. 1 Reque...

Motive to Approach Success and Motive to Avoid Failure in Boys from Different Social Groups

Abstract Nygard, R. (1969). Motive to Approach Success and Motive to Avoid Failure in Boys from Different Social Groups. Scand. J. Educ. Res. 13, 222‐232. Differences between social groups in achievement‐related motives were examined in a sample of 255 7th and 8th grade boys. The motive to avoid failure was measured by the Test Anxiety Scale for Children (Sarason et al., 1960), while the motive to approach success was anchored in the score on the TAT nAchievement Test (McClelland et al., 1953). Analysis of regression revealed a clear relationship between social background and motive to avoid failure, higher social groups being less failure motivated (p<.005). This relationship seems to hold even when differences between the groups in intelligence are controlled (p<.05). The results of a corresponding analysis regarding the motive to approach success did not reach significance (.05<p<.10). There were, however, clear trends when measures for the two motives were combined. Thus, pupils with a high motive to ...

Persistence at a Difficult Task with Alternative Task of Intermediate Difficulty: Some Comments on Feather's Study

Abstract Nygard, R. 1976. Persistence at a Difficult Task with Alternative Task of Intermediate Difficulty: Some Comments on Feathers Study. Scand. J. educ. Res. 20, 41‐48. According to Atkinson the motivation to avoid failure among subjects (Ss) in whom the motive to avoid failure is stronger than the motive to achieve success (Mf > Ms) reaches its maximum when the subjective probability of success (P3) is .50. On this basis Feather suggests that when Mf> Ms Ss are confronted with a very difficult task (Ps Ms Ss. An alternative, probabilistic use of the achievement motivation theory is suggested, according to which the likelihood of a shift to the alternative task should be higher among Mf > Ms Ss with a relatively high Ps ...