Interfered by unaccomplished academic tasks: The role of success expectations

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.