ABSTRACT
This entry describes motivation from an achievement-oriented perspective. Motivation is defined as the psychological process by which behaviour begins and is maintained. Motivation in this context can be defined as goal-directed behaviour. The entry explains how current cognitive perspectives on motivation focus on goals and how goals impact motivation. The goals and beliefs of students impact their behaviour in achievement contexts. Beliefs that play a role in motivation include achievement attributions and naïve theories of ability. Last, extrinsic, intrinsic, and amotivation are defined in the context of educational settings. The entry describes these impacts and provides insight into teacher approaches to increase student motivation and engagement in achievement-oriented tasks.
