Abstract
Within a triadic experimental design, 80 subjects classified as high or low in achievement motivation were given either standard or extended exposure to uncontrollable rewards. Subjects high in achievement motivation displayed facilitation following standard training that was eliminated following extended training. While this conforms with Wortman and Brehm's model integrating reactance theory and learned helplessness theory, in general the results were more accurately described by predictions based on a modification of the theory of achievement motivation. Because the experimental procedure induced the perception of uncontrollability independently of perceived failure, the results were seen as extending the generality of the latter theory.
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Winefield, A.H., Jardine, E. Effects of differences in achievement motivation and amount of exposure on responses to uncontrollable rewards. Motiv Emot 6, 245–257 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992247
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992247