Understanding Level of Aspiration and Goal Setting Behavior
Level of Aspiration/ Goal Setting Behavior
Name of the Test:
Name of the Tester:
Name of the testee:
Educational Qualification of the testee:
Age of the testee: Gender of the testee:
Mental Status of the testee:
Purpose:
To determine the level of aspiration or goal setting behavior of the testee.
Introduction
Human beings frequently attempt to reach a certain level of excellence which may be called the level of aspiration. According to John Drever, ‘level of aspiration (LoA) is best explained as a frame of reference involving self-esteem, or alternatively as a standard with reference to which an individual experiences, i.e., has the feeling of success or failure.’ Frank had defined LoA as, ‘the level of future performance in a familiar task which an individual, knowing his level of past performance in that task, explicitly undertakes to reach.’ Level of aspiration is a goal an individual sets for himself in a task, which has intense personal significance for him or in which he is ego-involved. People continuously direct their behavior and strive to perform certain types of activity and to attain certain ends. They frequently seem to reach a criterion of excellence, in so doing set themselves ‘a level of aspiration’, the standard they hope to attain. This setting of a level of aspiration may itself motivate the individual to try his best, though sometimes knowledge of how well he has performed previously may equally be effective. Knowledge of how well they did enables them to estimate how well they will perform in the next trial. The majority of people tend to set their level of aspiration slightly above previous performance and continue to adjust the level in successive trials. The greater the success, the stronger the tendency to raise the level; the greater the failure, the greater the tendency to lower it. A person who consistently sets his goals higher or lower than his performance would objectively be imaginative or unrealistic. It may be an indication of maladjustment or failure of an individual.
Types of Aspiration Positive and Negative:
In positive aspiration, a person gives emphasis on success. A person who got success wants to do better than what he has done before. In negative aspiration, the person wants to avoid failure.
Immediate and Remote:
Immediate aspiration is the goal a person sets for his immediate future i.e., for today, tomorrow, next week, or next month. Remote aspiration is the goal set for the distant future i.e., after 10 years or ‘when I grow up’.
Realistic and Unrealistic:
If the person sets the goals assessing his/her abilities then it is realistic. If a person sets a goal without considering the abilities then it is unrealistic.
Verbalized and non-verbalized
Goals that are put into words are verbalized goals. Some aspirations, wishes, or goals are not told. These are non-verbalized.
Factors influencing Level of aspiration
LoA is influenced more by environmental factors than by personal factors.
Personal Factors
Wishes, Personality, Past experiences, Values, Gender, Socio-economic status, Racial Background.
Environmental Factors:
Parental ambitions, Social expectations, Peer pressure, Culture, Social Values, Competition.
Description of the Level of Aspiration Test
LoA test was developed by Dr. M.A Shah and Mahesh Bhargava. The test sheet has 36 circles of 1 cm (diameter) each, arranged in five rows- 12 in each row. On the above and below of these five rows of 36 circles, there are two boxes on the right side. The upper box is for writing the number of expected scores or aspired performance whereas the lower box is for putting the number of completed performance or actual score. The test-retest reliability of the test is 0.84.
Instructions
‘You are going to do a simple task. You have a sheet containing 36 circles in front of you, and you have to draw four lines in these circles so that they may appear like a human face. You must draw lines in a sequence and make the circle appear like a face. The faces should be constructed in the order- right eye, left eye, nose, and mouth. Work from left to right across the rows and then proceed to the next line. For each trial/box, 30 seconds are allotted for work and at the end of 30 seconds, you will be asked to stop the performance and count the number of completed faces and enter it in the lower box. This is your first practice trial. In the next trials, you have to put the number of faces you intend to complete in the next 30 seconds period, in the upper box on the basis of last actual performance. In this way, you have to finish all the trials.’
Precautions
- Proper rapport should be established with the subject.
- The room should be quiet and well-lit.
- The testee should make faces in a proper sequence.
- A signal of ready and start should be given before starting.
- Stopwatch should be reset after each trial.
Scoring
The test provides three types of scores. 1) Goal Discrepancy score= The difference between the actual score of this trial and the expected score of the previous trial. 2) Attainment Discrepancy score= Actual score – Expected Score of the same trial 3) Number of times (NTR) the goal reached score= The number of trials where the actual score is equal or more than the expected score.
