Value of Failure!

Students Course!

Module 1: Basics of failure!

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Content!

1. Perceptions of success and failure!

2. Hope and fears!
3. Achievement motivation!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!

• Mindset:!

– Your mindset is related to your belief about ability!

– Your mindset creates a mental framework!

– Two different mindsets possible:!

• Fixed Mindset: Ability cannot change!
• Growth Mindset: Ability can grow!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!

• Motivational framework supporting mindsets!

– Goals!
– Responses!
– Effort!
– Strategies!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!
• Goals in different mindsets: What are we aiming for?!
Fixed Mindset!
Performance Goals!
They believe that a person’s potential can
be measured. They aim to receive
validation from others.!
Receiving low marks mean that they are not
smart.!
Both success and failure cause anxiety.!
Growth Mindset!
Those with a growth mindset tend to create
learning goals.!
The goal is mastery and competence.!
Scores and marks reflect how people are
doing now and do not measure a person’s
potential!
Creating goals for learning has shown to
increase performance and enjoyment and
decrease negative emotion!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!
• Responses in different mindsets: What are we aiming for?!
Fixed Mindset!
do not pay attention to learning information!
get depressed, become de-energised and
lose self-esteem!
denigrate their intelligence: ‘I am stupid’,
they’ll think!
under-represent past successes and over-
represent failures (pessimism)!
explain the cause of events as something
stable about them.!
Growth Mindset!
Pay attention to learning information, and so
do better on future tests.!
Focus on what they are learning, rather than
focusing on how they feel.!
Try out new ways of doing things.!
Use self-motivating statements such as ‘ the
harder it gets the harder I try’.!
When faced with tests which are impossible
to pass they will factor in other reasons and
not blame their intellect i.e. this test was
beyond my ability for now.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!
• Effort in different mindsets: What is required for success!
Fixed Mindset!
Those with a fixed mindset view effort as a
reflection of low intelligence.!
Hard work means ‘I don’t get it’, ‘I’m
unintelligent!
Effort = lack of ability!
Growth Mindset!
Those with a growth mindset see effort as a
necessary part of success.!
They try harder when faced with a setback.!
Effort = success.!
They use effort to overcome difficulty.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!

• Effort in different mindsets: What is required for success!

– People were asked about intelligence and how much they thought it
was down to effort and how much they thought it was about ability!

Intelligence=______% effort _______% ability!

– Fixed = 35% effort vs. 65% ability!

– Growth = 65% effort vs. 35% ability!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!

• Strategies in different mindsets: How we reach success!

Fixed Mindset! Growth Mindset!

Carol Dweck has found that students with a People adopting a growth mindset tend to
fixed mindset keep using the wrong strategy generate other, and new, ways to do things.!
when faced with a problem.!
Then they disengage from the problem.! If one route doesn’t work they will try others.!

Finally, they give up.! They will think ‘outside of the box’ to solve
problems because they believe that they
‘can’.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
1. Perceptions of success and failure!

• Summary!

– A growth mindset helps people to be motivated and to succeed.!

– A growth mindset can be learnt.!
– We can foster a growth mindset in others by the type of feedback we
give and by teaching them about the brain’s huge potential.!
– Role models give people evidence of the growth mindset in action.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
Content!

1. Perceptions of success and failure!

2. Hope and fears!
3. Achievement motivation!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
2. Hope and fears!

• Hope theory!

– “Successful people have high hope. Hope can be nurtured.”!

Rick Snyder, The Psychology of Hope!
!
– Hope results from having willpower (desire) and way power (a plan) for
goals.!

• Goals: target!
• Pathways: Waypower!
• Agency: Willpower!
• Emotions: information feedback about goal pursuit!
– Negative: blocked goal!
– Positive: progress or accomplishment!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
2. Hope and fears!

• Hope theory: Goals!

– Mental targets!
– (Some) probability of reaching!
– Short or long term!
– Hierarchical!
Abstract (“Be”)!
Ideal Self

Be Healthy Be Happy

Diet Exercise

Run Swim
Concrete (“Do”)!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
2. Hope and fears!

• Hope theory: Pathways!

– Perceived ability to produce strategies!

– Crucial when encountering blockages!
– Most preferred vs. alternate routes!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
2. Hope and fears!

• Hope theory: Agency!

– Mental determination!
– Channels mental energy to appropriate routes!
– Internal or external sources possible!
 Module 1: Basics of failure!
2. Hope and fears!

• Hope theory: Process!

Hoep & Thougts

Pathways Pathways
(developmental Thoughts
lessons of Goall
correlation/causality) Emotion Outcome attainment/
Stressor non-
Set Value
Agency attainment
(developmental
lessons of self as Agency
author of causal Thoughts
chains of events)

Surprise
Event
Learning History! Pre-Event! Event Sequence!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
Content!

1. Perceptions of success and failure!

2. Hope and fears!
3. Achievement motivation!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Motivation: Definition!

– Motivation has been defined as “…desires, needs, and interests that

energize the organism and direct it toward a goal” !
(Santrock, 1987, p. 662)!

– Motivation related to achievement has been examined in many ways!

– From this growing literature, some useful concepts have emerged…!

Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Motivation: Early theories!

– Early theorists suggested there are two components of motivation:!

Motivation

Hope for Success Fear of Failure

– These drives oftentimes conflict, and a student’s classroom behavior

depends on the balance or imbalance of the two!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Motivation: Modern theories!

– Later theorists divided fear of failure into two subcomponents:!

Performance!

Low Anxiety! High Anxiety!

– Positive Fear of Failure – anxiety that improves performance!

– Negative Fear of Failure – anxiety that impedes performance!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Achievement Motivation:!

– Links Personality with the degree of competitiveness shown by an

individual.!
– How motivated are you to succeed?!
– Is achievement motivation linked with nature or nurture?!
– Murray (1938) indicated that it is only natural for one to want to surpass
another (Nature).!
– Bandura (1977) however, believed competitiveness is a product of
learning (Nurture).!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Interactionists and Achievement Motivation:!

– Atkinson and McClelland (1976) predicted that motivation is generated

through a combination of personality and situational factors, These
are… !
• Probability of success: The likelihood of success- when a task is easy or
done before.!
• Incentive value of success: The intrinsic value experienced after success. If
the task is harder the greater incentive value…Why?!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• NAch and NaF: Different settings in Achievement motivation!

Need to Achieve: NAch! Need to avoid Failure: NaF!

(Low NaF/Hich NAch)! (Low NAch/High NaF)!
The desire of success far outweighs the fear The fear of failure far outweighs the desire to
of failure.! succeed.!
Referred to as high achievers.! Referred to as low achievers.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• What are the problems with Achievement Motivation Theory?!

– What is success to you?!

– Success can be interpreted in several different ways…!
• Success over other people: Ego Goal Orientation- Beating someone in a
race.!
• Personal Improvement: Task Orientation- performance and process goals
i.e. Achieving a personal best.!
– Achievement Motivation within sport should be referred to as
Competitiveness.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Competitiveness!

– The motivation to achieve in sport.!

– Gill and Deeter (1988) confirmed that Athletes are far more competitive
than non athletes.!
– However, Athletes favoured performance goals (Task Orientation)
whereas the non-athletes preferred the importance of winning (Ego
Orientation).!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
3. Achievement motivation!

• Attribution Theory!

– What do you attribute your success to?!

– Weiner (1971) saw that there were two areas which affect our
attribution levels.!
• The Locus of Causality- internal or external factors. !
• Stability- Stable and un-changeable/ Unstable is temporary i.e. Luck.!
• Control is also mentioned and is a key factor in attribution retraining.!
Module 1: Basics of failure!
Learned!

• What we discussed today!

– how different mindsets control your personal perception of success
and failure in the context of goals, responses, effort, and different
strategies!
– the basics of hope theory and how fear of failure is preventing from
success, and that hope can be nurtured!
– the basics of motivation theory and how the “Need for Achievement”
and the “Need to avoid Failure” affect your personal strategies!

• Thank you for your attention!

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