Contingencies of Self-Worth and Achievement Goals: Predictors of Friendship

Satisfaction

Amy K. TillHanover College

Friendship Studies show that friends are similar

on several demographic and behavioral characteristics (e.g. Berndt, 1999).

Little research has been conducted on whether friends share similar beliefs or whether these similarities predict friendship satisfaction (e.g. Ryan, 2001).

Contingencies of Self-Worth CSW represent domains in which

people want to succeed (Crocker et al., 2003).

CSW predict the types of activities in which people engage (Crocker, 2002).

Example: Sara bases her self-worth on God’s Love and often goes on mission trips.

Contingencies of Self-Worth

Approval from Others Physical Appearance School Competency

Family Support God’s Love

Competition Virtue

Achievement Goals Achievement goals represent a

person’s immediate achievement-related focus (Eccles et al., 1998).

Achievement goals predict the types of activities in which people engage (Ames, 1992).

Example: Bob wants to get an A in his classes, so he studies for many hours every day.

Types of Achievement Goals

Work Avoidance Goals Performance Goals

Mastery Goals

Friendship Satisfaction

Happiness Intimacy

Lack of Conflict

Example: Katie and Jamie both base their self-worth on physical appearance; therefore, they spend time shopping and grooming together. Their similarity makes them feel happy in their friendship.

Research Questions1. Do friends share similar beliefs?

2. Do friends with similar beliefs have higher rates of friendship satisfaction than friends with different beliefs?

3. Are some discrepancies in beliefs more important in determining friendship satisfaction than others?

Participants Small, Midwestern Liberal Arts

College Participants: 80 Total

Males = 18 Females = 62

Friendship Pairs: 40 Total Same-sex = 38

Different-sex = 2 Age Range: 18-22 years old

MeasuresCSW: 35-item questionnaire

Example: “I feel worthwhile when I have God’s love.”

Goals: 15-item questionnaire

Example: “I want to feel involved in the process of learning.”

Satisfaction: 13-item questionnaireExample: “My friend cares about my feelings.”

Internal ReliabilityContingencies of Self-Worth

Approval from Others α = .85 α = .87

Physical Appearance α = .77 α = .80

School Competency α = .92 α = .87

Family Support α = .71 α = .82

God’s Love α = .96 α = .96

Competition α = .91 α = .86

Virtue α = .92 α = .78

Friend A Friend B

Internal ReliabilityAchievement Goals

Performance Goals α = .75 α = .90

Work Avoidance α = .58 α = .57

Mastery Goals α = .84 α = .87

Friendship Satisfaction

Friendship Satisfaction

α = .74 α = .70

Friend A Friend B

Friend A Friend B

Similarities in Contingencies of Self-Worth

Approval: r = .44, p = .004 Virtue: r = .32, p = .04

Appearance: r = .28, p = .07 God’s Love: r = .27, p = .09

Similarities in Achievement Goals

Performance Goals: r = .43, p = .01 Work Avoidance: r = .35, p = .03

Mastery Goals: r = .30, p = .06

Similarity and Friendship Duration

Will friends be more likely to have similar beliefs the longer they are friends?

Created two categories: Short Duration: < 24 months (n = 19) Long Duration: > 24 months (n = 21)

Similarity and Friendship Duration

Short Duration:

Long Duration:

Approval from Others .03 .69***

z = -2.38, p = .01

Similarity and Friendship Satisfaction

Work Avoidance Goals: r = -.33, p = .04

A possible explanation: Friends who avoid their schoolwork may feel badly about themselves, which could negatively affect their friendship.

Discussion

Results indicate that friends share some CSW and some achievement goals.

Results do not support the hypothesis that similarity predicts satisfaction.

Friends should not be similar in all beliefs and similarities should not always predict satisfaction.

Future Research

Measure both the friends’ beliefs and the activities in which they participate in order to get an internal and external view of friendships.

Questions