Abstract
Building upon Optimal Distinctiveness Theory (Brewer, 1991), we propose that students will exhibit increased self-regulatory persistence and performance to satisfy their needs for assimilation and differentiation. In Study 1, undergraduates rated the importance of 16 achievement-related tasks (e.g., studying for examinations, class participation). A within-persons hierarchical linear model revealed that the more students perceived enacting these behaviors as satisfying their assimilation or differentiation needs, the more important they considered such behaviors to be. In Study 2, we manipulated assimilation or differentiation motives and provided students with false information that success on a word task was associated with either fitting in or standing out. As predicted, participants in the need for assimilation condition performed better and spent more time on a task allegedly associated with fitting in. By contrast, participants in the need for differentiation condition performed better and spent more time on a task allegedly associated with standing out.
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