The relationship between goal orientation and age among adolescents and adults

According to C. S. Dweck (1986), students often approach an achievement sit uation in 1 of 2 ways: (a) from a learning orientation, which is characteri zed by a desire to acquire new skills and knowledge for the sake of learnin g; or (b) from a performance orientation, which is characterized by a desir e to prove one's competence to others. In this investigation, the learning orientations of 199 college students ranging in age from 17 years to 59 yea rs were assessed, because learning-oriented students tend to exhibit more a daptive achievement-oriented behaviors than their performance-oriented peer s. It was found that older students were more likely to be learning oriente d. If this is a replicable finding, it is possible that grouping students o f varied ages together could support the development of a learning orientat ion in younger students.