Murray (1938) proposed a need for achievement as one of the basic human needs. According to Murray, a need is “a more or less consistent trait of personality” (p. 61) which drives a person towards a specific behavior in a specific situation. McClelland and colleagues (1953) extended Murray’s concept of need for achievement by linking it to self-worth. Self-worth is an affective response to one’s own identity based on his or her perceptions of actual or expected performance (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2007). McClelland and colleagues proposed that need for achievement arises when students hope to achieve success and desire to avoid failure. While performing well might have positive influences on students’ self-worth, performing poorly might have negative consequences for self-worth because individuals might associate failure with low ability which in turn reflects negatively on their own personal values (Covington, 1992). According to this theory, students will strive to achieve success and avoid failure in order to realise their self-worth (Atkinson, 1957).