2003/01/01 by Andrew J. Martin, Herbert W. Marsh · 2 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Early Childhood Education and Development #Education, Achievement, and Giftedness #Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
paper · doi:10.1080/00050060310001706997
crossref issued 2003/01/01 · crossref published 2003/01/01 · crossref published-print 2003/01/01 · openalex publication_date 2003/01/01 · crossref created 2004/06/10 · crossref published-online 2006/08/22 · crossref deposited 2021/07/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Fear of failure is examined from a need achievement perspective and in the context of research amongst high school and university students. Theory and data suggest that fear of failure can be separated into two camps: overstriving and self-protection. Although each has yields in terms of achievement or in terms of self-protection, they render the academic process an uncertain one for students marked by anxiety, low resilience, and vulnerability to learned helplessness. A cascading model of failure avoidance is developed that differentiates various aspects of fear of failure on the basis of a number of correlates and outcomes and provides direction for intervention. An alternative orientation — success orientation — is explored in detail as are four factors identified as the key means to promote success orientation. These factors are self-belief, control, learning focus, and value of school and ways to promote these in the educational and counselling context are discussed.