PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Cynthia Schmidt

Industrial/Organizational
May 1991

Effects of Gender Difference and Socioeconomic Status on Achievement Motivation, Goal Setting and Task Performance
 

    Research on the relationship between achievement motivation and job performance has been inconclusive.  The purpose of this study was to contribute to the understanding of this relationship by exploring the impact of the mediating variables of goal setting, gender and socioeconomic status (SES).  Data were collected from 75 males and females from a college and from the general working public.  Measures completed by subjects included an SES questionnaire, a creativity test and a mathematical test.
    It was hypothesized that subjects who were highly achievement motivated would perform better on all tasks; high SES males and females would perform better than low SES males and females, respectively, on the math test; and males would choose a higher goal level than females on the creativity test even if they did not actually perform as well.  The hypotheses were not supported, although SES appeared to contribute to goal setting and actual performance.

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