Psychological Ownership, Optimism, and Achievement Goal Orientation among College Students

Abstract

Insights into the factors that inspire and drive someone to succeed can be gained from psychological ownership, optimism, and achievement goal orientation. These factors can also be used to help develop interventions and tactics that will improve learning and well-being. A student’s drive to do well in school may be influenced by a variety of factors, including psychological ownership, optimism, and accomplishment goal orientation. The data was collected from 123 college students, consisting of 28 males, & 95 females, and 51 undergraduates and 72 postgraduate students. The tools used were the Psychological Ownership Questionnaire (Avey and Avolio, 2007), Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) by Scheier, Carver, and Bridges (1994), and Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-R) by Elliot and McGregor, 2001. The study used a correlational research design and the statistical tests being done were descriptive statistics, correlation, multiple linear regression, and independent samples t-test. The results showed a significant relationship between Preventive Psychological Ownership and Mastery & Performance goal orientation and between Promotive Psychological Ownership and Optimism. Promotive Psychological Ownership revealed a gender difference that was statistically significant, with men scoring better than women.