Fear of failure, achievement motivation, and aspiring to prestigeful occupations.

Abstract

From a list of 40 occupations, 67 male undergraduates were asked (a) which occupation was nearest the one they intended to strive for, (b) what satisfaction could be expected from each occupation listed, (c) which were realistically attainable, and (d) which would they settle for if the stress of occupational achievement could be avoided. As fear of failure (FF) increased (a) the prestige of aspired-to occupations decreased, (b) willingness to settle for less satisfying and less prestigeful occupations increased, and (c) the person became more likely to perceive that occupations with extremely low probabilities of attainment were within his reach. Effects of achievement motivation were very weak but generally in a direction opposite to that of FF. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)