Writing and performing autobiography has valuable, potential role modeling effects on readers and audiences. This literary and performative genre focuses on the internal, subjective realities, struggles, development, or growth of characters. Autobiographical writing/performing can present characters as role models in their struggle to answer questions about themselves or others, to make significant decisions, to overcome personal or cultural barriers, to contribute to society, and to live a fruitful life. Evidence supports the idea that performing autobiography may provide a role modeling effect, which may influence achievement motivation in audiences. This role modeling effect may be particularly significant in marginalized groups such as women and minorities.

In recent decades, cognitive learning theories have developed, which have focused on achievement motivation in terms of student attributions and observations. Social learning theory describes students in terms of their tendencies to attribute success or failure to internal or external factors. The extent to which a person believes that he can control what happens to him is referred to as internal control. A belief that one is controlled by luck, fate, or others, is referred to as external control. Achievement motivation theory began with the assumption that students attributed their successes and failures to internal or external causes. Those who attributed their successes to internal causes seemed to have a greater degree of achievement motivation than those did who attributed their successes to external causes.

Locus of control has been a valuable construct in studying many important attributes related to achievement. From the 1970’s through the 1980’s, researchers provided evidence of the following:

• Subjects with internal locus of control were more cognitively able.
• They were more mentally aware.
• Internal persons appeared to possess more information regarding their status in certain institutions.
• They showed greater readiness to perceive relevant information.
• Persons with internal locus of control were found to be more prepared to seek necessary information in experimental tasks than were external persons.
• Internal persons were better predisposed to learning.
• Persons with internal locus of control were more motivated than were persons with external locus of control.

Evidence suggests that persons with internal locus of control are more independent, cognitively able, mentally aware, predisposed to learning, and motivated than persons are with external locus of control. Therefore, the possibility of increasing persons’ internal locus of control may be significant in improving their academic and professional performance.

Strengthening the internal locus of control in students seems to be related to improving achievement of students and seems to point towards a solution for the problem of female and minority under-achievement and under-representation.

Achievement theory includes "expectancy value," which describes how hard one works at achievement as determined by one's success and his/her valuing of that success. Achievement motivation involves determination to accomplish something difficult; to organize; or to master objects, people, or ideas. In this theory of motivation, individuals who are classified as high versus low in achievement needs exhibit opposing risk preferences when given tasks differing in perceived difficulty. Persons labeled high in achievement needs are predicted to exhibit different risk-taking behavior than persons low in achievement needs.

Studying the relationship between internal locus in students and their observation of role models may be of further value. Cognitive and social learning theories include the issue of learning by observation. These theories attest that most human behavior is learned observationally via modeling and that from observing others one forms an idea of how new behaviors are performed. A role model is an adult who has qualities or skills that a person admires and wishes to imitate. The process of observing a role model can take place without direct interaction between the observer and the role model. It is possible that the role model may not be aware of his or her influence on another person.

Role models in social learning theory are examples to imitate who are perceived by observers as similar to themselves. This similarity may be significant in terms of race and gender. The social learning viewpoint suggests that children imitate same-sex models more than opposite-sex ones due to perceived similarity to the model. Role models are human examples whom observers can imitate and from whom observers can receive reinforcement. They go beyond providing simple technical “how-to” information, set norms and values, provided recognition and reward for achievements, and oriented behaviors on a certain course.

Evidence suggests that there is a relationship between locus of control in students, especially in females, minorities (including the physically challenged) and their identification of role models. Further, evidence suggests that locus of control in students, especially females and minorities, tends to become increasingly more internal when the students have role models. (To study this research more carefully see Chapter Three in my book Autobiographical Writing and Presenting: An Introductory, Contemporary Guide to Process and Research in Speech Performance.)

Since 1995 my students and I have been involved in researching and presenting evidence that writing and performing autobiography has valuable, potential role modeling effects on readers and audiences. Focusing on internal, subjective realities, struggles, development, or growth of characters, autobiographical writing/performing can present characters as role models in their struggle to answer questions about themselves, others, and the world and to make contributions to society, which may have eternally positive consequences. Evidence supports the idea that performing writing and autobiography may provide a role modeling effect, which may influence achievement motivation in readers and audiences. This role modeling effect may be particularly significant in marginalized groups. (See http://www.dianehoward.com for further information.)