The Emergence of 'Wanting to Do It Oneself': A Precursor of Achievement Motivation

Abstract

The presented pilot study analyzes the prerequisites of achievement motivation by studying children's wanting to do things themselves. The development of the intention to produce an outcome and the development of the self-concept are critical elements in this study. Wanting to do it oneself as a precursor of achievement motivation is inferred from children's articulations of the desire to perform tasks by themselves after their flow of action is interrupted by the experimenter.

Forty-one children between 0;9 and 6;6 years of age were observed while playing with a collection of tasks. Classifying the children's various reactions to the experimental manipulations revealed different behavioral patterns that supported the hypothesis of developmental stages of wanting to do things oneself; these stages corresponded to the degree of development of self-concept. The prerequisites of achievement motivation such as centering on the action-outcome, attributing outcome to the self as the originator, and relating outcome to a sense of competence were identified.