Abstract
Several revisions of Atkinson's risk preference model have been proposed in the last 10 years. The advantage of such revisions, shifting the maximum of the approach tendency to the difficult range in predicting choice behavior, is discussed. After summarizing the results of a series of studies on choice behavior in achievement-related situations, the conclusion is drawn that such a revision is unnecessary. Choice behavior is in agreement with the prediction of the original model when expectancies are assessed in the proper way. There may be other good reasons to revise Atkinson's original model. However, the tendency to choose difficulty levels with objective success probabilities less than .50 is not a reason.
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Schneider, K. Atkinson's “risk preference” model. Motiv Emot 2, 333–344 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993328