Is a performance- avoidance achievement goal always maladaptive? Not necessarily for collectivists

•Performance-avoidance goals may not always lead to maladaptive outcomes.•Collectivism may moderate the effects of performance-avoidance on key outcomes.•A collectivism by performance-avoidance goal interaction was found.•The interaction effect was a significant predictor of strategy use and motivation.

Achievement goal researchers assume that performance-avoidance achievement goals are uniformly maladaptive. However, cross-cultural studies suggest that this may not necessarily be the case. The aim of this study was to examine whether collectivism moderated the effects of performance-avoidance goals on key outcomes such as cognitive and meta-cognitive learning strategies and intrinsic motivation. Filipino secondary school students (n = 1147) participated in the study and answered the relevant questionnaires. Results indicated that collectivism moderated the effects of performance-avoidance on the outcome variables of interest. For students high in collectivism, performance-avoidance goals were associated with greater use of cognitive and meta-cognitive learning strategies and intrinsic motivation. These findings directly contradict the Western literature. Implications for culture and motivation research are discussed.