Including social goals in achievement motivation research: Examples from the Philippines

Traditional theories of achievement motivation such as achievement goal theory mostly neglected its more social aspects. This paper focuses on social goal as a key construct and argues for the need to include social goals in the research agenda. This is especially important when conducting research among collectivist societies where the interdependent self-construal is more salient. Examples of social goal research done within one collectivist culture, the Philippines, are provided. Overall, social goal research in the Philippines supports the inclusion of social goals when examining students’ motivational dynamics. Copyright © 2012 International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.