In addition to their sense of their own academic competence, adolescents' affective orientation toward their schools appears to have important implications for their achievement motivation. One study examined the relationship between students' feelings of belonging at school, adherence to school rules, and interest in social status at school and their achievement motivation, specifically their endorsement of mastery and performance goals (Anderman & Anderman, 1999). The authors of this study found that students who placed greater importance in being liked by their classmates, and being liked by the "popular" crowd specifically, in 6th grade were more likely to hold performance goals (e.g., emphasizing the importance of doing well) than those who did not place as strong an emphasis on their social contacts at school. In contrast, those who reported feeling a greater sense of belonging at school and those who believed it was important to adhere to school rules were more likely to endorse mastery goal orientations (e.g., emphasizing the importance of mastering the topic), and at times less likely to endorse performance goal orientations, over the period. This finding occurred in an economically and ethnically diverse sample of about 660 adolescents, and was found even after accounting for differences in students' earlier levels of academic self-concept and achievement.