The Dark Cycle of Work Avoidance Goals and Disengagement: A Cross-Lagged Analysis

Abstract

While previous research has mainly emphasized how work avoidance goals lead to academic disengagement, there is a lack of research on reciprocal relations between work avoidance goal pursuit and the experience of disengagement. In this study, I not only suggest that work avoidance increases disengagement but that disengagement can also enhance subsequent work avoidance goal adoption. A full cross-lagged analysis was used to test reciprocal relations between work avoidance goals and disengagement. Filipino high school students (N = 848) answered the relevant questionnaires across two time points spread over a half-year interval. Results showed that T1 work avoidance goals had an impact on subsequent T2 disengagement and that T1 disengagement also had an impact on T2 work avoidance goals. Moreover, temporal stability was also shown for both work avoidance and disengagement. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.