A look at achievement motivation and masculine/feminine stereotypes and their relationship

Abstract

A questionnaire designed by the author was given to 167 teachers college and polytech students. The questionnaire consisted of several sections: A: personal information; B: role orientation; C: behaviour assessment; and D: self description checklist. The questionnaire was intended to find out what people considered it important to do well in, and in what areas of endeavour they said they actually did expend most effort. It was found that achievement was interpreted broadly and was not limited to academic and leadership roles. There were no consistent differences between sexes that coincided with the traditional sex typed views of what people thought it important to do well in and what they directed their efforts towards. Indeed sex stereotypes were not as predominant or pervasive as in some other studies. Other characteristics such as polytech/teachers college student or graduate/nongraduate were just as important in distinguishing what areas of endeavour people considered important and what areas they put most effort into. Certain roles did seem to fit together, but these arrangements were largely individually organized. That is, an individual's effort was similar or stable to the extent that he or she saw those areas of behaviour or tasks as similarly important.