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Educational Psychology Review, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2001
Avoiding Seeking Help in the Classroom:
Who and Why?
Allison M. Ryan,1,3 Paul R. Pintrich,2and Carol Midgley2
Why do some students avoid seeking help in the classroom when they need it?
When students do not seek the help they need, they put themselves at a disad-
vantage for learning. We discuss how students’ personal motivational charac-
teristics relate to their avoidance of help seeking. In particular, we discuss our
work regarding perceived academic and social competence and achievement-
and social-goal orientations. We also discuss how various dimensions of the
classroom context relate to help avoidance. Specifically, we discuss rules and
norms of classrooms as well as our work examining the achievement goal
structure and social climate of classrooms. We conclude by discussing how new
developments in achievement goal theory distinguishing between approach-
and avoidance-goal orientations might add to psychologists’ understanding
of help avoidance. We also consider how students’ strivings for autonomy and
different aspects of the social climate might be incorporated into theories of
students’ help avoidance behavior.
KEY WORDS: help seeking; motivation; achievement goals; autonomy; classroom context.
INTRODUCTION
Help seeking is an important self-regulatory strategy that contri-
butes to student learning (Karabenick and Sharma, 1994; Newman, 1994;
Zimmerman and Martinez-Pons, 1988). Inevitably, students encounter
ambiguity or difficulty in their schoolwork and need assistance. In such a
situation, it is adaptive for students to use others as a resource to secure the
1University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
3Correspondence should be addressed to Allison M. Ryan, 230 Education Building, 1310 South
Sixth Street, Champaign, Illinois 61820-6990; e-mail: ryan2@uiuc.edu.
93
1040-726X/01/0600-0093$19.50/0 C
°2001 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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94 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
necessary help and to continue the learning process (McCaslin and Good,
1996). As children develop into adolescents, their metacognitive skills im-
prove (Keating, 1990), and they are better able to monitor and reflect on
their performance and to determine their need for help in academic situa-
tions (Myers and Paris, 1978; Nelson Le-Gall, 1981, 1985; Newman, 1991,
1994; Paris and Newman, 1990). However, many adolescents do not seek
help with their academic work when needed (Good et al., 1987; Newman,
1990; Newman and Goldin, 1990; Ryan et al., 1998; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997).
In fact, help avoidance has been found to increase during early adolescence
(Ryan and Midgley, 1998).
This apparent contradiction between young adolescents’ increasing
cognitive capabilities and their help-seeking behavior highlights the impor-
tance of considering the motivational and social factors that influence
help seeking in the classroom (Newman, 1994, 1998; Ryan and Pintrich,
1997). In our work, we have investigated how students’ motivational char-
acteristics, as well as classroom contextual characteristics, relate to
adolescents’ decision to avoid seeking help with their academic work. We
use the term “avoidance of help seeking” to refer to instances when stu-
dents know that they need help but do not seek it. For example, a stu-
dent might skip a problem altogether or put down any answer rather than
ask for help. The decision by students to not get help represents an in-
tentional goal-directed act to cease or avoid engagement. We are inter-
ested in this avoidance behavior because when students don’t garner help
when it is needed they put themselves at a disadvantage for learning and
performance.
In this article, we review research concerning students’ avoidance of
help seeking in the classroom. After describing the avoidance of help seek-
ing, we discuss how students’ personal motivational characteristics relate
to the avoidance of help seeking. Specifically, we discuss our work regard-
ing perceptions of academic and social competence and achievement and
social-goal orientations. Next, we discuss how various dimensions of the
classroom context relate to students’ avoidance of help seeking. Specifically,
we discuss rules and norms of classrooms as well as our work examining the
achievement goal structure and social climate of classrooms. We conclude
with some ideas for future research on the avoidance of help seeking. We
discuss how new developments in achievement goal theory distinguishing
between approach and avoidance-goal orientations might add to our un-
derstanding of help avoidance. We also consider how students’ strivings for
autonomy and different aspects of the social climate might be further an-
alyzed and incorporated into current theories of students’ help avoidance
behavior.
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 95
THE AVOIDANCE OF HELP SEEKING
The help-seeking process begins with the awareness of the need for help.
Van der Meij (1994) and Dillon (1988, 1990) have described this stage as per-
plexity. Perplexity refers to a state of puzzlement or uncertainty that arises
when there is a discrepancy between personal knowledge and new informa-
tion or expectations. For example, students may solve a math problem only
to find that the solution in the back of the book is different. Or, students may
think of an example that contradicts a statement that the teacher presents
in class. These two examples highlight that awareness of the need for help
may be externally or internally generated. External cues are abundant in
the classroom. For example, verbal responses by the teacher and graded as-
signments are external indications to students of how well they understand
a given concept. Students’ ability to internally monitor their comprehension
and determine their need for help increases as they age (Nelson-Le Gall,
1981, 1985; Newman, 1991, 1994).
When students become aware that they need help, they must decide
whether to actually seek help. Considerable research has identified this stage
as a critical juncture in the overall help-seeking process. Dillon (1988, p. 20)
wrote, “95 percent of the questions that we have in mind to ask we never go
on to utter ...we may think the better of it and follow one of the numerous
other paths available. These include keeping quiet and giving off that we
know and understand.” It is at this juncture in the help-seeking process that
our research has focused: the decision to avoid asking for help when students
know they need help.
Research has identified several reasons why students avoid asking for
help in the classroom. First, it may not be practical or feasible to ask for help
in a given situation. There may be explicit rules or norms against help seeking
and, thus, students may refrain from asking for help because they do not want
to get in trouble. Or students may judge that asking for help is not going to
be effective because (a) there is not a competent, willing helper who can
provide assistance or (b) it will take too long to get help. In addition to such
practical and expedient concerns, research has identified two psychosocial
concerns that underlie the avoidance of help seeking: desire for autonomy
and threat to competence (Butler, 1998; Newman, 1990; Van der Meij, 1988).
Our own research has focused on students’ reluctance to seek help
because of competence concerns, but we discuss the role of the desire for
autonomy in the last section of this article. The need for help may be per-
ceived by individuals as evidence that they lack ability and is likely to engen-
der negative reactions of judgments from others (Butler and Neuman, 1995;
Butler, 1998; Karabenick and Knapp, 1991; Newman, 1990; Ryan, Hicks, and
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96 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
Midgley, 1997; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997). For example, Ryan and Pintrich
(1997) found that many students worried about negative judgments from
both their teacher and classmates regarding their abilities (e.g., “I think the
teacher/other kids might think I am dumb when I ask a question in math
class”). These competence concerns are positively related to the avoidance
of help seeking. Thus, the need for help is often construed as an indicator
that one lacks competence and, in that way, it explains the avoidance of help
seeking. An important question is what personal and contextual factors are
related to competence concerns about help seeking and to avoidant help-
seeking behavior? In the next section, we consider how students’ personal
academic and social characteristics relate to competence concerns and to
the avoidance of help seeking.
STUDENTS’ PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE
AVOIDANCE OF HELP SEEKING
Perceptions of Cognitive Competence
Personal characteristics of students such as performance level, self-
esteem, and perceptions of competence have been linked with the decision
to avoid seeking help. In academic settings, research has shown that the
need for help is most threatening to low-achieving students. This is in line
with findings that the need for help is most threatening to students with low
self-esteem or perceptions of cognitive competence (Karabenick and Knapp,
1991; Newman, 1990; Newman and Goldin, 1990; Ryan et al., 1997; Ryan and
Pintrich, 1997). Students who are low achievers or who perceive that they
are not especially competent are concerned that others will think that their
need for help indicates that they are incapable and, therefore, they will be less
likely to seek help. In contrast, when students who are high achievers or who
have perceptions of high cognitive competence encounter difficulty, they are
less likely to worry that others will attribute it to their lack of ability, and
they are more likely to secure the necessary help (Butler and Neuman, 1995;
Karabenick and Knapp, 1991; Newman, 1990; Newman and Goldin, 1990;
Ryan et al., 1997; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997).
Perceptions of Social Competence
A similar relation exists between perceptions of social competence and
help-seeking behavior (Ryan and Pintrich, 1997). Feeling comfortable and
skillful in relating to others lessens the perception that there will be nega-
tive fallout (e.g., negative reaction or judgment from the helper) from help
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 97
seeking. Ryan and Pintrich (1997) found that adolescents who perceived
themselves as socially competent were less likely to feel threatened by help
seeking and were more likely to ask for help. This relation was independent
of the relation between perceived cognitive competence and help seeking,
suggesting an independent role of perceptions of social competence. It ap-
pears that if individuals feel comfortable and skillful in relating to others
socially, then they feel more confident in their ability to ask for help with-
out incurring a negative reaction from the helper. Accordingly, it is not just
perceptions of cognitive competence that can influence the help-seeking
process, but also perceptions of social competence. This pattern of results
highlights the importance of (a) considering help seeking, not just as an aca-
demic self-regulatory strategy, but also as a social interaction with others,
and (b) recognizing that social competence can play a role in the dynamics
of help seeking.
Achievement-Goal Orientations4
In addition to perceptions of competence, students’ achievement-goal
orientations are also related to the avoidance of help seeking. Theory and
research on goal orientations indicates that two general goal orientations are
important precursors to various motivational, cognitive, and behavioral out-
comes (see Ames, 1992; Dweck, 1986; Harackiewicz et al., 1998; Maehr and
Midgley, 1991; Nicholls, 1990; Pintrich, 2000b). Although there are a num-
ber of different labels attached to these two goal orientations, in this article
we use the terms mastery- and performance-goal orientations. When ori-
ented to mastery goals, students are focused on learning, self-improvement,
progress, and mastery of the task. In contrast, when oriented to performance
goals, students are focused on trying to better others, receiving public recog-
nition for superior performance, and trying to attain positive judgments of
their ability. These two achievement-goal orientations represent disparate
reasons for involvement and different conceptions of success regarding aca-
demic tasks, and they have been linked to different help-seeking beliefs and
behaviors.
A mastery-goal orientation focuses students on the task at hand, and
effort is seen as a way to master the task. As such, it decreases competence
concerns regarding help seeking and decreases the avoidance of help seeking
(Butler and Neuman, 1995; Newman 1991, 1994; Ryan et al., 1997; Ryan and
Pintrich, 1997). In contrast, a performance-goal orientation focuses students
4Researchers have now distinguished between approach and avoidance achievement-goal ori-
entations. The contribution of this distinction to research on help avoidance will be discussed
later in this paper. The discussion here focuses on the approach component of goal orientations.
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98 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
on themselves and their competency relative to others. A sense of accom-
plishment is derived from demonstrating that one is smart, regardless of the
learning involved. When students are oriented to performance goals, they
are concerned about how others will evaluate them because external evalu-
ation will determine whether they are smart. This goal orientation increases
competence concerns regarding help seeking and increases the avoidance
of help seeking (Butler and Neuman, 1995; Newman 1991, 1994; Ryan et al.,
1997; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997).
Social-Goal Orientations
Goal orientations are salient regarding social achievement as well as
academic achievement in the classroom (Dweck, 1996; Hicks, 1997; Urdan
and Maehr, 1995; Wentzel, 1989). A social-goal orientation concerns the
purpose and meaning that students ascribe to their social behavior in the
classroom. Drawing on a large body of literature that demonstrates that
young adolescents value both the opinions and the companionship of their
peers (e.g., Berndt, 1982; Brown, 1990; Hartup, 1989; Parker and Asher,
1987), Hicks postulated two social-goal orientations: a social intimacy-goal
orientation and a social status-goal orientation (Hicks, 1997). These goal ori-
entations concern two types of alliances adolescents have with their peers. An
intimacy-goal orientation concerns the desire for both general acceptance
and for closer and more interpersonal relationships. In contrast, a social
status-goal orientation concerns the desire for social visibility and prestige
within the larger peer group. A social status-goal orientation is related to
the emergence of an elite social crowd in early adolescence, typically labeled
“popular,” which various researchers have documented (e.g., Brown et al.,
1994; Eder, 1985; Kinney, 1993). Group membership, in these terms, does not
necessarily equate with students’ friendship selections or with their actual
interaction patterns, but is related more to their status within the larger peer
group (Brown, 1990; Eder, 1985).
Social status- and intimacy-goal orientations also have been related
to the avoidance of help seeking. A status-goal orientation is similar to a
performance-goal orientation in that both concern maintaining a certain
image: A performance-goal orientation concerns a student’s image of aca-
demic ability, whereas a status-goal orientation concerns a student’s social
image or reputation. In both cases, there is a heightened awareness of the
self relative to others and a potential need to protect self-worth. Because
help seeking is a public behavior that has the potential to garner attention
and evaluation from one’s peers, students who have a status-goal orienta-
tion perceive help seeking as threatening to their self-worth and are more
likely to avoid seeking help when they need it (Ryan et al., 1997). In contrast,
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 99
an intimacy-goal orientation represents the desire to interact with and form
relationships with peers. Seeking help within the classroom provides an op-
portunity for legitimate peer interaction. The goal to form and maintain
positive peer relationships is negatively related to avoidance of help seek-
ing (Ryan et al., 1997). These findings parallel the findings for perceptions
of social competence and reinforce the proposition that social motivational
constructs are linked to help seeking and that help seeking needs to be con-
sidered both a self-regulatory strategy and a social interaction.
Achievement Level and Goal Orientations
The discussion to this point has focused on main effects of goal orien-
tations, but research suggests that it is important to consider interactive
effects of goal orientations and achievement level on avoidance of help
seeking. Ryan et al. (1997) found that the relation between adolescents’
performance-goal orientation and their help-seeking behavior depended
in part on their actual level of achievement. As grade point average de-
creased, the endorsement of a performance-goal orientation was related
to increased competence concerns regarding help seeking and increased
avoidance of help seeking. Thus, when students adopt a goal to outper-
form others but receive information that they are not achieving that goal,
they are particularly vulnerable to negative perceptions about help seek-
ing and are more likely to avoid it. These findings are in line with the re-
sults of an experimental study by Butler and Neuman (1995), which found
a similar interaction between a performance-goal orientation and initial
competence at solving puzzles. These findings are troubling but provide
insight as to which students in the classroom do not seek help when they
need it. First, lower achieving students feel more threatened and report
more avoidance of help seeking when needed than do higher achieving
students. Furthermore, when students who are lower achievers endorse a
performance-goal orientation, the discrepancies become even greater. The
very children who need help the most, seek it the least, and a performance-
goal orientation exacerbates the situation.
The finding that actual academic achievement moderates the impact of
performance-goal orientation on help-seeking attitudes and behaviors sug-
gests that a student’s social situation might moderate the impact of a social
status-goal orientation on help seeking. The desire to be popular might im-
pact help-seeking attitudes and behavior differently, depending on whether
students actually are liked and respected by their peers. An interesting ques-
tion for future research is whether students’ sociometric status would mod-
erate the impact of a social status-goal orientation on competence concerns
regarding help seeking and the avoidance of help seeking.
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100 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
CLASSROOM CONTEXT, STUDENT MOTIVATION,
AND AVOIDANCE OF HELP SEEKING
It is also important to consider how the classroom context may influence
help seeking (Nelson-Le Gall, 1985; Newman, 1994, 1998; Ryan et al., 1998).
Teachers may set up environments that vary greatly in regards to fostering
or discouraging students’ help seeking. We discuss three dimensions of class-
rooms that are likely to affect the avoidance of help seeking: (1) classroom
rules and norms, (2) classroom goal structure, and (3) social/interpersonal
climate of the classroom.
Classroom Rules and Norms
The rules and norms teachers establish in the classroom are likely to
influence the opportunity structure for student help seeking. For example,
Karabenick and Sharma (1994) found that college students’ perceptions of
the amount of support the instructor provided in the class were linked to
students’ asking of questions, even when controlling for the students’ level
of confusion. In their model, teacher support included providing opportuni-
ties for question asking, specific instructions to the students on how to ask
questions, and reward–punishment contingencies (aspects of rules), as well
as teachers’ informational or procedural responses to questions, emotional
responses to questions, and the value placed on questions by the teacher
(aspects of norms).
In interviews, we conducted with seventh- and eighth-grade students,
they often referred to such rules and norms when asked about help seeking in
the classroom (Ryan, 1996). For example, students told us “Like if the teacher
is giving a lecture she doesn’t want you to raise your hand and start talking”;
“Usually there is a time (for questions) when, after she gives instructions”;
“Most of the time at the end of class if you really don’t understand something
you can go up and ask the teacher.” Such procedures may or may not be
explicitly stated, but students’ perceptions of such rules and norms are likely
to influence the timing and manner in which help is sought, as Karabenick
and Sharma (1994) showed for the college classroom.
In addition to rules and norms specific to help seeking, rules and norms
for completing tasks, participating in class, and interacting with students are
also likely to impact help seeking (Karabenick and Sharma, 1994; McCaslin
and Good, 1996). Students’ might be aware that they need help, but the
rules and norms of the environment will be important determinants of how
the student responds to this awareness. For example, some teachers allow
students to talk to others during seatwork to receive help. In such a class-
room, help seeking should be facilitated. In other classrooms, talking to other
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 101
students during seatwork may be prohibited by the classroom rules because
it is construed as cheating or as not doing your own work, and should con-
strain help-seeking behavior. Thus, help avoidance must be considered in
the context of such rules and norms. Classroom rules and norms interact
with students’ personal motivational characteristics to influence help seek-
ing. Rules and norms can be conceptualized in their own right and taken at
face value (i.e., “No talking during seatwork” means no talking during seat-
work and influences help seeking in an obvious way). However, the norms
and rules of classrooms also reflect other characteristics or dimensions of
classrooms that have been found to be important influences on students’
help-seeking beliefs and behaviors: the achievement goal structure and the
social/interpersonal climate.
Achievement Goal Structure in the Classroom
The classroom goal structure is communicated to students in many ways,
including the types of academic tasks they are given, how they are recog-
nized and evaluated, and how they are encouraged to do their work (Ames,
1992; Midgley, 1993). A mastery-goal structure communicates to students
that understanding, improvement, and the intrinsic value of learning are the
primary reasons for involvement in schoolwork. A performance-goal struc-
ture communicates to students that demonstrating their ability relative to
others is of primary importance in the classroom.
In a recent study (Ryan et al., 1998), we used multilevel analyses to inves-
tigate how the classroom goal structure related to avoidance of help seeking.
We examined differential patterns of help avoidance across 63 seventh-grade
math classrooms. First, students’ reported levels of avoidance of help seek-
ing did vary across classrooms. Thus, in some classrooms students reported
avoiding seeking help significantly more than in other classrooms. We then
explored whether this variablility in levels of help avoidance could be ex-
plained by the classroom goal structure. Students’ perception of a mastery
classroom goal structure was associated with a lower level of help avoid-
ance, whereas their perception of a performance classroom goal structure
was associated with a higher level of help avoidance. In classrooms where
students perceived that the focus was on understanding, mastery, and the
intrinsic value of learning—compared to classrooms where the focus was
on competition and proving one’s ability—students were less likely to avoid
seeking help with their work when they needed it. This finding was in line
with previous studies that have found that students’ personal goal orien-
tations are related to their help-seeking behavior (e.g., Ryan and Pintrich,
1997). However, this study provided evidence for contextual effects on the
avoidance of help seeking, which previous studies had not addressed.
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102 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
Although the study did not examine help seeking in the classroom con-
text, Newman (1998) designed a microgenetic experimental study that ma-
nipulated mastery and performance goals to investigate how these manipu-
lated contextual goals interacted with elementary students’ personal mastery
and performance goals to predict help seeking and performance over time.
He found that there was an interaction between the contextual goals and
personal goals that related to help seeking. When personal and contextual
goals were in congruence and focused on performance concerns, students
were more likely to avoid seeking help. When the goals were incongruent, in
particular, when students who were personally more performance oriented
were placed in a mastery context, the context moderated their tendency to
avoid help seeking, and they sought more help. This study provides insights
about how personal goals and contextual-goal stresses can interact to in-
fluence help seeking. In addition, it highlights the need for more research
that examines how different contextual factors, including goal structures and
classroom rules and climate, might interact with personal characteristics of
students to influence help-seeking behavior.
Social/Interpersonal Climate of the Classroom
Help seeking combines aspects of social and cognitive engagement, in
that it is both a learning strategy and a social interaction with others (Nelson-
Le Gall, 1981, 1985). Previously, we discussed how various social constructs,
such as perceptions of social competence and social-goal orientations, are
related to help avoidance in the classroom. Familiarity as well as positive
relations increase the likelihood that a student will ask another person for
help (Nelson-Le Gall and Gumerman, 1984; Newman and Schwager, 1993;
Wintre et al., 1988). Specifically, Nelson-Le Gall and Gumerman (1984)
found that when children were presented with vignettes of problems they re-
ported that friendship was an important consideration when deciding whom
they would ask for help. Newman and Schwager (1993) found that students’
perceptions that that the teacher likes the student and that she likes the
teacher was related to students’ reports of help seeking in the classroom.
Additionally, when students perceive themselves as comfortable and skillful
in relating to others, they are more likely to seek help (Ryan and Pintrich,
1997). When they are concerned with their social image or status among
their peers, they are less likely to ask for help (Ryan et al., 1997).
Given the social nature of help seeking, it is likely that the social cli-
mate of the classroom influences students’ help-seeking behavior. Class-
rooms characterized as caring, supportive, and friendly are likely to make
students feel more comfortable interacting with the teacher and other stu-
dents. In an environment in which students feel that others know and relate
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 103
to them beyond their academic abilities, they may be less likely to feel that
asking for help will incur negative judgments. In a study investigating one di-
mension of the social climate in students’ help avoidance, Ryan et al. (1998)
found that the teacher’s concern about the social and emotional well-being
of their students was related to less help avoidance, particularly for students
who doubted their ability to successfully do their academic work. As we
discussed previously, prior research has found that students who have low
self-efficacy for their academic work are more likely to feel threatened by
their need for help and to avoid help seeking than are students who have
high self-efficacy for their academic work. However, Ryan et al. (1998) found
that this relation between academic self-efficacy and help avoidance varied
across classrooms. In some classrooms, there was a more equitable distribu-
tion of help seeking by students with varying levels of efficacy. Importantly,
the teacher’s concern about social–emotional nurturing lessened the relation
between efficacy and help avoidance. Thus, the troubling situation where
low-efficacy adolescents avoid seeking help more than do their high efficacy
peers was ameliorated when teachers were concerned with their students’
social–emotional needs.
DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
Our research has explored help avoidance among young adolescent stu-
dents. Developmental characteristics of young adolescent students include
increased self-consciousness and sensitivity to social comparison, increased
desire for autonomy, and increased need for positive and supportive relation-
ships with both peers and teachers (Eccles et al., 1993; Eccles and Midgley,
1989; Nicholls, 1990). Our findings are in line with a consideration of young
adolescents’ developmental needs. Regarding sensitivity to social compar-
ison, we discussed how a goal orientation toward performing the best and
demonstrating ability, both at the individual and the classroom level, exacer-
bates competence concerns and help avoidance. Regarding increased need
for positive social relationships, we discussed how students’ social status-goal
orientations as well as the perception that one lacks social competence in-
crease competence concerns and help avoidance. Further, the social climate
of the classroom is important for understanding students’ help avoidance.
However, consideration of the developmental needs of young ado-
lescents also suggests important avenues for future research. In this sec-
tion, we discuss three potentially fruitful areas for future research into
young adolescents’ avoidance of help seeking. First, regarding young ado-
lescents’ increased sensitivity regarding social comparison, new develop-
ments in achievement goal theory that distinguishes between approach
and avoidance-goal orientations might add to our understanding of goal
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104 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
orientations and help avoidance. Second, regarding young adolescents’ in-
creased desire for autonomy, further exploration of autonomy concerns that
adolescents have about asking for help might further our understanding
of their avoidance of help seeking. Third, regarding young adolescents’ in-
creased need for positive relationships with peers and teachers, further anal-
ysis of the social climate of classrooms might build on our finding that teach-
ers’ concern with the social–emotional well-being of their students relates
to help avoidance in the classroom.
The Role of Avoidance-Goal Orientations
Research investigating help avoidance has predominantly examined
the role of approach-goal orientations. However, as described in this special
issue, recently there has been theory and research to suggest that mastery-
and performance-goal orientations are not sufficient to explain the diver-
sity of findings in the goal orientation literature. Elliot and his colleagues
(Elliot, 1997; Elliot and Church, 1997; Elliot and Harackiewicz, 1996;
Harackiewicz et al., 1997; Harackiewicz et al., 1998) as well as others
(Middleton and Midgley, 1997; Skaalvik, 1997) suggested that a distinction
between approach and avoidance performance-goal orientations is impor-
tant. With an approach performance-goal orientation, students are con-
cerned about demonstrating their ability, looking smart, or outperforming
others. In contrast, with an avoidance performance-goal orientation, stu-
dents are concerned with avoiding negative judgments of their ability or
competence, in effect, trying to avoid looking dumb or stupid. This work has
suggested that although an approach performance orientation is sometimes
associated with maladaptive patterns of learning, it may also be associated
with some positive outcomes. In contrast, an avoidance performance orien-
tation is associated with maladaptive outcomes with no evidence of positive
effects (Midgley et al., in press; Pintrich, 2000b).
In terms of help seeking, an avoidance performance-goal orientation
is likely to be important to avoidant behaviors like the avoidance of help
seeking (Middleton and Midgley, 1997). Indeed, the goal to avoid negative
judgments about ability resonates with competence concerns about help
seeking (i.e., “I worry about asking for help because others will think I
am dumb”). However, students who are concerned about avoiding looking
dumb may be willing to seek “covert” help, that is help from others (such
as a teacher) as long as other students are not able to see the help seeking
and giving. In contrast, students who are focused on approach performance
goals and who are trying to be the best students in the class may not seek
any kind of help at all, covert or other, given that they do not want anyone
to think they are less able. Middleton and Midgley (1997) included both the
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 105
approach and the avoidance components of performance goal orientations in
a study examining several student outcomes, including avoiding help seeking.
The avoidance component of performance-goal orientations emerged as a
predictor of avoiding help seeking, whereas the approach component did
not, when both were included in the same model. Additional research on
approach and avoidance performance-goal orientations and different help-
seeking behaviors and attitudes would add to our understanding.
There have been proposals to extend the approach–avoidance distinc-
tion to mastery goals (cf., Elliot, 1999; Pintrich, 2000a,b). In an approach
mastery-goal orientation, students are focused on mastery, self-improve-
ment, and progress; in effect, approaching or going toward mastery. Pintrich
(2000a,b) has suggested that there may be an avoid mastery-goal orientation
where students are trying to avoid not mastering the task or to avoid mis-
understanding the task. There is no empirical support for an avoid mastery
goal yet, but it seems reasonable that students could be focused on avoiding
misunderstanding or on not mastering the task, without concern for how
others are doing. For example, there may be “perfectionistic” students who
are not concerned with how others are doing or with looking stupid or dumb,
but who are only concerned with not doing the task incorrectly.
This distinction might be useful in predicting differential help avoid-
ance behaviors. Whereas an approach mastery-goal orientation ameliorates
concerns about competence and decreases avoidance of help seeking, a fo-
cus on avoiding misunderstanding—and a determination to not get some-
thing wrong because of high standards for oneself—might engender con-
cerns about competence that would lead students to avoid help seeking. On
the other hand, because an avoidance mastery goal does not reflect a con-
cern about others, these students might be willing to ask for “dependent”
help to avoid doing the task or work improperly or incorrectly. Again, fu-
ture research needs to examine the potential existence of an avoid mastery
goal as well as the possibility of differential relations between approach and
avoidance mastery goal orientations and the avoidance of help seeking.
The approach–avoidance distinction between achievement-goal orien-
tations might also be interesting to explore with social-goal orientations.
We have found that students who are concerned with garnering social pres-
tige and a “popular” reputation are more threatened by help seeking and
are more likely to avoid help seeking. However, there might very well be
students who are most concerned with avoiding any damage to their social
reputation (e.g., those who don’t want to be seen with unpopular students).
In more colloquial terms, this is the distinction between the desire to be
socially successful (i.e., “cool” or “popular”) and the dread of being socially
awkward (i.e., “dork” or “geek”). During adolescence, a time character-
ized by increased self-consciousness and egocentrism that leads individuals
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106 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
to believe their behavior is the focus of everyone else’s attention, such an
avoidance-goal orientation might foster avoidant behaviors in the classroom.
Future research should address these potential relations with help seeking
that might be fostered by different approach and avoidance orientations to
social goals.
The Role of Autonomy Concerns
Predominantly, our research has focused on students’ reluctance to seek
help because of competence concerns, that is, the perception that help seek-
ing conveys to others that one lacks ability. This approach has been fruitful
in understanding help avoidance. Some young adolescent students worry
about “looking dumb” when asking for help, and this is a strong predictor
of reported help avoidance (Ryan and Pintrich, 1997). However, in addition
to competence concerns, autonomy concerns underlie the decision to avoid
seeking help (Butler, 1998). The perception of help seeking as a dependent
behavior competes with the desire for autonomy and impedes students’ ask-
ing for help when they need it. In a sample of young adolescents, Butler
(1998) found that autonomy reasons for help avoidance were more strongly
endorsed than competence concerns did.
In addition to investigating different reasons for help avoidance, Butler
(1998) also put students into experimental situations and observed their
help-seeking behavior. Interestingly, students who had endorsed autonomy
reasons for avoiding help seeking were more likely to request adaptive type
help when solving problems. This suggests that if help avoidance is born
out of a desire to be autonomous, then when students ultimately do seek
help, they are going to ask for the type of help that will support their own
autonomy in the future. In contrast, students who had endorsed competence
reasons for avoiding help seeking were more likely to avoid help seeking in
solving problems (Butler, 1998).
Current explanations of the links between autonomy and competence
concerns regarding help seeking and goal orientations are incomplete. Speci-
fically, competence concerns have been conceptualized as judgments about
ability (relative to others) (Butler and Neuman, 1995; Butler, 1998; Ryan
et al., 1997; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997) and autonomy concerns have been
conceptualized as (reflecting a) striving for independent mastery (Butler
and Neuman, 1995; Butler, 1998; Newman, 1990). Given these conceptual-
izations, it is not surprising that researchers have linked a performance-goal
orientation with competence concerns (Ryan et al., 1997; Ryan and Pintrich,
1997) and a mastery-goal orientation with autonomy concerns (Butler and
Neuman, 1995). We suggest that the reasons for help avoidance (concerns
about autonomy and concerns about competence) may be conceptualized
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 107
Fig. 1. Reasons for help avoidance.
along the lines of both a mastery-goal orientation and a performance-goal
orientation (see Fig. 1). That is, concerns for autonomy and competence
should not be considered one dimension but rather distinguished as be-
ing driven by a mastery-goal orientation or driven by a performance-goal
orientation.
Avoiding help seeking for reasons related to a desire for autonomy
could be quite different depending on students’ goal orientation. Students
might desire autonomy because they believe they will learn more if they
persist on the task independently. This is congruent with a mastery-goal
orientation, which concerns a focus on developing competence with self-
referential standards and defining success as when something new is learned
(the top left cell in Fig. 1). Students might also desire autonomy because
they want to be self-reliant and they believe completing a task independently
means they are more capable. This is congruent with a performance approach
goal orientation, which focuses on demonstrating competence and defines
success as when one garners positive judgments about one’s ability relative
to others (the bottom left cell in Fig. 1). Thus, the difference in these cells is
illustrated by a student thinking “I wouldn’t ask for help because I’ll learn
more if I do it alone” (mastery-goal orientation/autonomy concerns) vs.
“I wouldn’t ask for help because I want to show that I can do it myself”
(performance-goal orientation/autonomy concerns).
Similarly, avoiding help seeking for reasons related to threat to compe-
tence could be quite different in a way that relates to achievement-goal ori-
entation. Students might construe help seeking as evidence that they didn’t
learn what they were supposed to, that they didn’t master the task. This is
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108 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
congruent with a mastery-goal orientation, when a student is focused on
gaining understanding and mastery and avoiding misunderstanding or on
not mastering the task (top right cell in Fig. 1). This is quite different than
students who are threatened by help seeking because they see it as evidence
that they lack ability and that others will think they are dumb or stupid if
they ask for help. Such concerns resonate with a performance-goal orienta-
tion to demonstrate competence relative to other students (bottom right cell
in Fig. 1). The difference in these cells is a student thinking “I wouldn’t ask
for help because it would mean that I don’t understand the task” (mastery-
goal orientation/competence concerns) vs. “I wouldn’t ask for help because
it would make me look stupid” (performance-goal orientation/competence
concerns).
The proposed framework needs to be tested as extant research on rea-
sons for help avoidance and goal orientations has either examined only one
dimension of competence concerns (top right cell in Fig. 1) or grouped both
of the proposed dimensions of autonomy concerns together (top and bot-
tom cells in left column in Fig. 1) and discussed these autonomy concerns as
striving for independent mastery. For example, our research indicates that
students do experience competency concerns regarding seeking help (Ryan
and Pintrich, 1997). However, the items in the scale only asked about con-
cerns about relative ability (e.g., “I think other kids will think I am dumb
if I ask a question in math class”), and thus our knowledge is incomplete.
Further, distinctions in concerns about autonomy regarding help seeking
might resolve previous inconsistent findings regarding goal orientation and
autonomy concerns. In an experimental study comparing student explana-
tions for help avoidance in mastery and performance goal conditions, Butler
and Neuman (1995) found no differences in the provided reasons for help
avoidance when students were asked about their own behavior after the ex-
periment. However, when asked about another, hypothetical, student’s help
avoidance, students in the mastery condition were more likely to mention
autonomy concerns than were students in the performance condition. The
example of student statements about autonomy concerns—“I wanted to be
independent”—did not distinguish whether the student wanted to be inde-
pendent, to gain mastery, or to demonstrate self-reliance. Perhaps further
distinction between aspects of autonomy would show clearer relations to
goal orientations.
The proposed framework may be useful for understanding different
help-seeking behaviors in the classroom. As discussed previously, Butler’s
research on students’ reasons for help avoidance and students’ help-seeking
behaviors (Butler, 1998) has indicated that autonomy concerns lead to adap-
tive help-seeking behavior, and competence concerns lead to avoidance
of help seeking. Research on students’ goal orientations and help-seeking
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 109
behaviors has indicated that a mastery-goal orientation leads to adaptive
help-seeking behavior and a performance-goal orientation leads to the avoid-
ance of help-seeking behavior. Thus, predictions stemming from Butler’s
work on reasons for help avoidance (Butler, 1998) and the studies on goal
orientation (e.g., Ryan and Pintrich, 1997) converge regarding two of the cat-
egories. Students in the autonomous-mastery category (top left cell in Fig. 1)
would be more likely to ask for adaptive type help both to achieve mas-
tery goals and to ultimately achieve autonomy. Students in the competence-
performance category (bottom right cell in Fig. 1) would be more likely
to avoid help seeking both to achieve performance goals and to address
competence concerns. However, extant research yields different hypothe-
ses about what we might expect from two of the categories. Students in the
competence-mastery category (top right cell in Fig. 1) may ask for adap-
tive type help to achieve mastery goals or avoid seeking help to address
competence concerns. Would mastery goals or competence concerns pre-
vail? Students in the autonomous-performance category (bottom left cell in
Fig. 1) may ask for adaptive type help to ultimately achieve autonomy or
avoid seeking help to achieve performance goals. Would performance goals
or autonomy concerns prevail?
Recent developments in achievement goal theory distinguishing be-
tween approach and avoidance orientations may help clarify the differential
predictions for these two categories. In particular, an approach performance-
goal orientation (focus on demonstrating competence) may be particularly
salient to students in the autonomy-performance category, whereas an avoid-
ance performance-goal orientation (focus on not demonstrating incompe-
tence) may be particularly salient to students in the competence-perform-
ance group (bottom right cell, Fig. 1).
The Role of the Social Environment
Research has clearly shown that at the individual level, students’ so-
cial motivation (perceptions of competence and social-goal orientations)
and relationships (familiarity and positive relationships) impact students’
help-seeking behavior (Nelson-Le Gall and Gumerman, 1984; Newman and
Schwager, 1993; Ryan and Pintrich, 1997; Ryan et al., 1997; Wintre et al.,
1988). There is also some evidence that the social climate plays a role in
the avoidance of help seeking (Ryan et al., 1998). We need to know more
about how the social aspects of the classroom environment can support or
undermine students’ help-seeking behavior.
Teachers vary in the values that they communicate to students about
relating to and respecting peers (Ryan and Patrick, 1999). An observational
study of 19 classrooms found considerable variability in interactions among
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110 Ryan, Pintrich, and Midgley
students and between the teacher and students (Anderson et al., 1988). Some
classrooms were characterized by positive and comfortable relationships and
frequent prosocial and cooperative interactions, whereas other classrooms
had an unpleasant affective tone and frequent negative student interactions
such as bickering, criticism, and insults. Thus, important questions include (1)
What messages does the teacher send to students about their relationships
with other students in the classroom? (2) What are the norms and values
regarding student relationships in the classroom? (3) How do these norms
and values impact the avoidance of help seeking?
Norms and values that teachers might differentially promote concern
interaction and mutual respect with peers around tasks (Ryan and Patrick,
1999). Is it acceptable and encouraged for students to interact with their class-
mates on academic work? Is learning something one does independently or
collaboratively? What is acceptable behavior in responding to classmates’
ideas and efforts? Is there an awareness and valuing of positive, respectful
interactions between classmates that do not exclude some students or gen-
erate negative feelings toward any students? When students are encouraged
to interact and exchange ideas with each other during academic tasks they
should feel more efficacious because they have a greater array of resources
on which to draw than if they were only working individually. An emphasis
on mutual respect in the classroom should contribute to students’ feelings
of psychological safety and comfort, including low anxiety and low threat
regarding making mistakes. Thus, the promotion by teachers, and percep-
tion by students, that interaction with peers is integral to learning and that
mutual respect is valued are likely to decrease help avoidance.
CONCLUSION
When students do not ask for help when they need it, they run the risk
of undermining their learning and achievement. In this article, we have dis-
cussed a number of reasons why students avoid help seeking in the classroom.
Individual as well as contextual characteristics influence this avoidance be-
havior. Regarding individual characteristics, we discussed our findings re-
garding students’ perceptions of competence and goal orientations in the
academic as well as the social domain. Regarding contextual characteris-
tics, we discussed classroom rules as well as the achievement goal structure
and social or interpersonal climate of classrooms. Taken together, research
has accumulated significant information about which type of students avoid
help seeking and what circumstances enhance or diminish this behavior.
Students who feel insecure about their abilities—academically or relating
socially to other students—are more likely to avoid help seeking. Students
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Avoidance of Help Seeking 111
who are focused on their reputation—academic or social—are more likely
to avoid help seeking. In classrooms where teachers emphasize personal im-
provement and promote positive social relationships, concerns about help
seeking decrease and concerns about help avoidance decrease. In contrast,
in classrooms where teachers highlight ability comparisons among students,
concerns about help seeking increase and concerns about help avoidance
increase. However, there is still much psychologists do not know about the
avoidance of help seeking. We discussed three areas that future research
might address to make knowledge more complete: avoidance-goal orienta-
tions, autonomy concerns, and the social environment. By more fully ex-
plicating and integrating avoidance-goal orientations, autonomy issues, and
characteristics of the social climate of classrooms into current theories, re-
search will further enhance the understanding of help avoidance. Such re-
search has the potential to help teachers design classroom environments in
which students who need help can seek help when they need it.
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