Effect of Residential Background, Gender and ...

Effect of Residential Background, Gender and Grade on Goal Orientation of the Adolescent

Author Name : Anupam Lata

ABSTRACT The present paper is based on the study that describes the importance of goal orientation for the good performance of the adolescents. From childhood, children learn from their parents and teachers that they should try to get good grades in school. A high level of achievement in these contexts means not only mastering the content of the course but also demonstrating one’s competence by outperforming others. Goal orientation theory examines the reasons why students engage in their academic work. Three types of goal orientation have been discussed- mastery, performance approach and performance avoidance. In the present study effort were made to explore the impact of goal orientation on Goal Orientation of the children. To achieve this, data were obtained on 280 male and female students studying in IXth and XIth grade from rural and urban background. Standard tools assessing goal orientation was used in this study. Results indicated that students coming from different residential background perceived their goal orientation differently. Results also manifested that residential background, gender and grade were positively related with goal orientation.