Social achievement goals, needs satisfaction, and coping among adolescents

•Social development and demonstration-approach goal pursuit implies need frustration.•Social development and demonstration-approach goal pursuit implies defensive coping.•Favoring social development over demonstration-approach goals is adaptive profile.•Social achievement goals explain adolescents' differences in need satisfaction.•Social achievement goals explain adolescents' differences in coping.

Ιn a sample of Turkish adolescents (N = 1614), we investigated whether pursuing social demonstration-approach goals (to attain popularity), next to social development goals (to cultivate meaningful relationships), explains differences in need satisfaction and frustration and coping. Cluster analysis showed that students who favored social development over social demonstration-approach goals reported less need frustration and defensive coping than students who favored both goals. These results were replicated with a prospective analysis with part of the initial sample (N = 425) as students who endorsed both goals reported more defensive coping five months later than students who mainly favored social development goals over social demonstration-approach goals.