Higher and lower status individuals’ performance goals: The role of hierarchy stability.

Compared with lower status individuals, higher status individuals are particularly likely to endorse approach (vs. avoidance) forms of motivation—notably, performance-approach goals (e.g., seeking to demonstrate superior competence) rather than performance-avoidance goals (e.g., seeking not to demonstrate inferior competence). In the present paper, we argue that this effect is likely to occur when the hierarchy is stable (i.e., in contexts in...