Achievement goals and optimal motivation: testing multiple goal models.

Currently, there is a debate about which types of achievement goals promote optimal motivation. A number of theorists argue for a mastery goal perspective focusing on the adaptive consequences of mastery goals and the maladaptive consequences of performance goals. Others endorse a multiple goal perspective in which both mastery and performance goals can be beneficial. The purpose of the present investigation was to review why this debate has emerged and to offer a critical test of the mastery versus multiple goal perspectives. In Study 1, a correlational approach was used to identify the optimal goals for college participants to adopt for a learning activity. In Study 2, an experimental approach was used to identify the optimal goals to assign for the same activity. Each study revealed benefits of both mastery and performance goals, providing support for the multiple goal perspective.

Psychometric properties and validity of the obsessive-compulsive drinking scale.

Abstinent alcoholics' self-reports of distressing alcohol-associated thoughts and compulsions to drink were evaluated by the Obsessive-Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on separate subject samples revealed that subjects' OCDS responses were best described by four correlated dimensions: alcohol obsessions, alcohol consumption, automaticity, and interference due to drinking. The validity of this four-factor solution was supported by the pattern of associations with drinking and coping style measures. In particular, alcohol obsessions were positively associated with alcohol dependence and use of passive/ avoidant coping. Automaticity was positively associated with the intensity and salience of drinking, and inversely associated with use of active/approach coping, as well as abstinence duration. The obsession and automaticity subscales of the OCDS may be useful in evaluating cognitive-motivational processes associated with recovery from alcoholism.