NURSING STUDENTS' GOAL ORIENTATIONS, PERCEPTIONS OF THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND COMPETITIVE AND COOPERATIVE BEHAVIORS

This study sought to investigate three central hypotheses which considered the extent to which a nursing program inculcates and supports competitive and cooperative behaviors among students as they progress through the nursing major. A cross-sectional design was used to determine the relationships between (1) personal goal orientations of students and (2) perceptions of goal orientations of peers in the learning environment.;Data were collected using a four-part questionnaire. This instrument included demographic descriptors, perceived sources of pressure to achieve high grades, the Martin-Larsen Competitive-Cooperative Attitude Scale and the Sawyer Altruism Scale.;The independent variable for the study was the level of students (Sophomore, Junior and Senior) in the nursing program. The dependent variables were the personal orientations of students toward competitive and cooperative behaviors and perceptions of these behaviors in their peers in the learning environment.;The results of the study indicated that in general there were no significant differences (p = < .05) between levels of students in their personal orientations toward competitive and cooperative behaviors nor in their perceptions of these behaviors in their peers. There was an indication that as students progressed through the nursing program, they perceived the environment as slightly more competitive. Students were slightly more competitively oriented in achieving their personal goals related to grades and salary as they progressed in the program.;The population for this study consisted of the students at the Sophomore, Junior and Senior levels in the nursing educational consortium offered through the University of Toledo, Medical College of Ohio and Bowling Green State University. Two hundred and fifty-seven subjects participated in the study.;Maintaining GPA, other students and faculty were perceived as offering the most intense pressure to achieve grades. Friends and family were perceived as offering the least pressure sources to achieve grades.