The Influence of Social Achievement Goals on Grit in Aviation Education

Author(s)

Austin T. Walden , Ph.D., Kansas State UniversityFollow

Volume

34

Issue

1

Key words

social achievement goals, grit, persistence, motivation, aviation education, pilots, flight students, educational psychology, aviation psychology

Abstract

Aviation students have multiple ways of persisting and persevering in their aviation education, and they do not learn in a vacuum. Their social goals may help explain why some aviation students show more grit than others in an aviation education environment. The study examined the relationship and predictive ability of social achievement goals (i.e., social development goal, social demonstration-approach goal, and social demonstration-avoid goal) to predict grit in an aviation education environment. The constructs of social achievement goals and grit have yet to be examined together in motivation research. This paper provides a new predictive model for using the two constructs. Social achievement goals are primarily considered to be motivation in the social domain, while grit has been researched previously in positive psychology. Regression analysis revealed that social development goal was a positively related significant predictor of grit. Social demonstration-approach goal and social demonstration-avoid goal were both negatively related significant predictors of grit. Learning in an aviation education environment involves a social component where students learn in collaboration with their peers in ways that are different than traditional educational settings. Therefore, the aviation education environment is a unique environment in which individuals need to form social bonds with their peers to persevere throughout their education. These findings warrant further exploration. By examining the relationship of grit and social achievement goals, this study contributes insight into the importance of motivation in the social realm to predicting long-term goal attainment in aviation education.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Walden, A. T. (2025). The Influence of Social Achievement Goals on Grit in Aviation Education. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 34(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58940/2329-258X.2093