Goal orientations and strong oughts: Adaptive or maladaptive forms of motivation for students with and without suspected learning disabilities?

The objective of the present studies was to evaluate the self-regulatory properties of strong ‘oughts’ as they relate to the academic achievement of elementary school students. Across three studies with typical elementary school students and students with learning problems, results indicated that strong oughts: (a) were associated with avoidance motivation, (b) represented an ‘ill’ motivational orientation that was linked to low achievement, (c) were associated with increases in persistence, and, (d) explained significant amounts of negative affect. It is concluded that strong oughts represent a rather immature form of motivation and should be avoided as a means of motivating elementary school students, due to the collateral increases in negative affect.