The affective experience of normative-performance and outcome goal pursuit: Physiological, observed, and self-report indicators

Research concerning different standards in performance goals - the achievement goal of demonstrating ability - has found little difference in cognition and behavior between normative (social-comparative) oriented and outcome-oriented standards. The present study tested differences in affect between performance goals with these different standards. Ninety-nine participants were randomly assigned into five goal conditions: (a) mastery; (b) normative-performance-approach; (c) outcome-approach; (d) normative-performance-avoidance; and, (e) outcome-avoidance. Multi-level analyses of physiological, observed, and self-report measures of affect indicated that pursuing the demonstration of ability along a social-comparative normative standard involved more intense and negative affect than did such pursuit along a non-social-comparative standard. This was found both in goals of approach and of avoidance valence.