ABSTRACT
All individuals can be characterized by two opposing motives: a motive to seek success and a motive to avoid failure. That is, some of people are motivated to achieve success and anticipate the feeling of pride and accomplishment related to their success while others are motivated to ensure that they do not fail and experience the shame and humiliation related to failure. This chapter looks at four types of students: the success-oriented students, failure avoiders, failure acceptors, and overstrivers. Each of these students has a different set of beliefs and perceptions. Three of these students have motivational problems that limit their present and possibly future academic success. Student motivation in the college classroom involves three interactive components including sociocultural factors, classroom environmental factors, and internal factors such as students' perceptions and beliefs. The chapter presents a definition of motivation (i.e., motivated behaviors), and discusses the sociocultural and classroom environmental factors. It also addresses the self-perceptions that influence motivated behaviors.
