Need Approval and Motor Steadiness under Positive and Negative Approval Conditions

Abstract

In a previous study by Strickland and Jenkins (1964) high need-for-approval Ss showed a significantly higher rate of performance on the pursuit rotor than did low need-for-approval Ss regardless of prior positive and negative reinforcement conditions on a motor steadiness test. In examining the motor-steadiness data, for 46 male Ss, it was found that performance on the motor-steadiness task corresponded to performance on the pursuit rotor except for the high need-for-approval Ss under negative conditions who did not do as well. The discrepancy in performance on the two tasks was discussed.