Interfered by unaccomplished academic tasks: The role of success expectations

Abstract Characteristics of concurring action alternatives can influence the experience and behavior in a focal action. In two scenario studies we investigated the role of success expectancies of an unaccomplished academic task as a relevant motivational characteristic to explain the experience and behavior during a focal leisure activity. Students imagined themselves in scenarios which were experimentally manipulated by varying the presence of a motivational conflict and the description of the concurring action. They anticipated what they would experience in these situations. Results indicate that students experience more impairments in situations of motivational conflict than when there is no conflict. Even more important, when success expectancies for the unaccomplished academic task were described as low, the anticipated impairments were higher than when expectations were described as high. Influencing expectations is discussed as one starting point for handling negative consequences of motivational conflicts due to academic tasks.