A situated process model of vocational achievement goal striving within members of the academic staff at university

• DOI: 10.1007/s11031-017-9657-z
• Publication Date: 2017-12-06T14:47:33Z
• Authors: Stefan Janke; Oliver Dickhäuser
• Keywords: Situational ethics; Goal Orientation; Goal theory; Goal setting; Need for achievement; Work Motivation

Building on achievement goal approach and self-determination theory (SDT), we propose a concise process model of achievement goal striving within academic staff members working at universities. We investigate this model in a sample of 107 academic staff members, who we questioned twice a day over the course of 2 weeks resulting in 1653 measurement occasions. Using two-level structural equation modeling, we found that substantial amounts of variance in situated achievement goals could be attributed to personal goal orientations. Life aspirations indirectly predicted the general strength of situated achievement goal striving via personal goal orientations. Finally, the situational satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness was differentially predictive for fluctuations in situated achievement goal striving, which in turn predicted situational intrinsic work motivation and work engagement. Our research ties achievement goal approach more closely to SDT and delivers a first outlook on the importance of working conditions in academia for goal setting processes and vocational motivation.