A Preliminary Look at Gender and Cultural Differences in Achievement Goals

Korean middle school students` achievement goals, self-efficacy, and help-seeking avoidance in math were compared to those of U.S. students. Korean students demonstrated significantly stronger performance-approach goals compared to European American students. Math self-efficacy beliefs of Korean students were significantly weaker than those of European American and African American students. Whereas performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals of European American students were not significantly correlated, those of Korean and African American students were. In particular, performance-approach goals correlated positively with mastery goals and self-efficacy for Korean students. Findings were more consistent with the predictions generated from the learning environment research than the individualism-collectivism contrasts. The results suggest that each goal may function differently across cultures.