Abstract
Achievement goals can be oriented towards mastery-approach (development of self-referential competence) or performance-approach (demonstration of normative competence). These goal orientations have been linked to various motivational outcomes. However, little research has examined their cognitive effects. To fill this gap, the present experiments examined how mastery-approach and performance-approach goals modulate working memory resources. Using a dual task methodology, results show that when working memory is loaded, individuals pursuing a mastery-approach goal experience larger performance decrements than individuals pursuing a performance-approach goal. Mastery-approach thus appears to depend more on working memory than performance-approach. These findings could not be explained by differences in cognitive ability, working memory capacity or state-anxiety. Contributions to the motivation-cognition interface and suggestions for future research will be discussed.