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Abstract

The “motive to avoid success” is seen as a conflict between femininity and sex-inappropriate behavior in achievement situations. Since the concept has frequently been confused with the method of scoring, this problem was avoided by employing an experimental test of the motive that artificially induced the conflict with false feedback concerning sexual identity. 80 female college students then performed a task that was sex-typed by the experimenter. Results confirmed that the motive to avoid success is a useful construct for explaining achievement motivation in women. The method demonstrated that avoidance of success by these women is manipulated by environmental events, therefore eliminating the need for use of an internal motive as an explanation of the phenomenon.

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Experimental Manipulation of the “Motive to Avoid Success”

Abstract

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References