Achievement goals in a presentation task: Performance expectancy, achievement goals, state anxiety, and task performance

The aims of the study were to test the linkages between achievement goals to task performance, as mediated by state anxiety arousal. Performance expectancy was also examined as antecedents of achievement goals. A presentation task in a computer practice class was used as achievement task. Fifty-three undergraduates (37 females and 16 males) were administered self-report questionnaire measures before and immediately following the task performance. As expected, results of regression analyses showed that performance-avoidance goals were positively related to state anxiety. State anxiety was related to poor task performance. The positive relationship between mastery goals and the task score was shown to be independent of anxiety processes. Performance expectancy was related to state anxiety through achievement goals.