Motivation in Modern Family
One of my favorite shows to help me unwind is Modern Family. I recently started rewatching it, but this time as I watched it I could not help but see all of the connections to the goal-orientations and motivation strategies learned in class. When watching Modern Family, there was one character in particular who stood out because of her performance-approach orientation. Alex Dunphy is considered the brains of her family. However, to achieve and maintain this reputation, she displays many patterns that show her performance-approach goals. Alex’s goal orientation is shown in many ways, but especially the way that she looks towards school. For example, “adopting performance-approach goals means committing oneself to striving for hight levels of achievement” (Wentzel & Brophy, 2014, p.25-26). For her, she does not just want to have an A in her classes, but she wants to be the best. This is shown when she does not get excited when she gets an A, because she did n...