A motivational model of rural students' intentions to persist in, versus drop out of, high school.

Using self-determination theory, the authors tested a motivational model to explain the conditions under which rural students formulate their intentions to persist in, versus drop out of, high school. The model argues that motivational variables underlie students' intentions to drop out and that students' motivation can be either supported in the classroom by autonomy-supportive teachers or frustrated by controlling teachers. LISREL analyses of questionnaire data from 483 rural high school students showed that the provision of autonomy support within classrooms predicted students' self-determined motivation and perceived competence. These motivational resources, in turn, predicted students' intentions to persist, versus drop out, and they did so even after controlling for the effect of achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A model of contextual motivation in physical education: Using constructs from self-determination and achievement goal theories to predict physical activity intentions.

Assessing the motivational responses of 328 secondary school students, this study examined a model of student motivation in physical education that incorporated constructs from achievement goal and self-determination theories. The focus was on the prediction of students' intention to partake in physical activity outside of physical education. Structural equation modeling analysis supported a model in which an autonomy-supportive climate, and to a lesser extent perceptions of a mastery climate, positively impacted hypothesized mediating variables (i.e., autonomy, competence, relatedness) to foster self-determined motivation. Self-determined motivation was found to positively predict, whereas amotivation was a negative predictor of leisure-time physical activity intentions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Students' motivational profiles and achievement outcomes in physical education: A self-determination perspective.

Previous studies in education have inspected the relations between students' autonomous versus controlled motivation and relevant outcomes. In most of those studies a global index of self-determined motivation was created. The purpose of this article was to examine (a) how the different types of motivation proposed by Self-Determination Theory combine into distinct profiles as identified by cluster analysis and (b) the links between those profiles and objective criteria of achievement. In Study 1, motivation toward physical education was assessed at the beginning of a 10-week gymnastics teaching cycle, and performance was assessed at the end of the cycle among a sample of high school students (N=210). Study 2 (N=215) extended Study 1 by controlling students' initial performance, measuring the effort they exerted and recording their grades. Cluster analyses revealed three motivational profiles: self-determined, non-self-determined, and moderate levels of both types of motivation. Path analysis showed that the self-determined profile was related to the highest achievement. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the assessment of students' motivation and the consequences of motivational profiles for educational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pressure from above and pressure from below as determinants of teachers' motivation and teaching behaviors.

When teachers are more supportive of autonomy and less controlling, students demonstrate higher levels of intrinsic motivation and self-determination. The purpose of this study was to examine social-contextual conditions that led teachers (N=254) who taught classes from Grades 1 to 12 to be more autonomy supportive versus controlling with their students. Using structural equation modeling, the authors observed that the more teachers perceive pressure from above (they have to comply with a curriculum, with colleagues, and with performance standards) and pressure from below (they perceived their students to be nonself-determined), the less they are self-determined toward teaching. In turn, the less they are self-determined toward teaching, the more they become controlling with students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does a new learning environment come up to students' expectations? A longitudinal study.

School transitions and educational innovations confront students with changes in their learning environment. Though expectations are known to influence perceptions and motivation, which, in turn, influence the effectiveness of any situation, students' expectations for a new learning environment have received little attention. This longitudinal survey, conducted with 1,335 high school students (average age, 15 years), studied students' expectations and subsequent perceptions of 5 characteristics of a new environment (fascinating content, productive learning, student autonomy, interaction, and clarity of goals) and the students' (prospective) dissatisfaction. Results showed that expectations were positively related to later perceptions. Also, high prospective dissatisfaction was related to higher actual dissatisfaction with the environment later on. Investigating expectations and prospective dissatisfaction in relation to student characteristics (i.e., motivational orientations; conceptions of learning; strategies for regulation, information processing, and affective processing) show that motivational problems and fear of failure were risk factors for educational innovations. Furthermore, students' disappointment with the new environment was related to undesirable changes in student characteristics, such as increased fear of failure. The findings stress the importance of preparing students for curricular changes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

School climate support for behavioral and psychological adjustment: Testing the mediating effect of social competence.

The present study used an ecological framework to examine the relationships among adolescents’ perceptions of school climate, social competence, and behavioral and psychological adjustment in the middle school years. This study improved upon prior studies by using structural equation modeling to investigate the hypothesized mediating effect of social competence and to account for measurement error. The sample included 1,042 participating students from 23 middle schools. Results showed that school mastery goal structure, promotion of autonomy and discussion, and teacher emotional support were negatively related to the levels of adolescents’ deviant behaviors and depression, while performance goal structure was positively related to deviant behaviors and depression. Social competence was a mediator between perceived school climate variables and adolescent adjustment, with the exception of the relationship between mastery goal structure and adjustment variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing a Self-Determination Theory Process Model for Promoting Glycemic Control Through Diabetes Self-Management.

A longitudinal study tested the self-determination theory (SDT) process model of health behavior change for glycemic control within a randomized trial of patient activation versus passive education. Glycosylated hemoglobin for patients with Type 2 diabetes (n=159) was assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Autonomous motivation and perceived competence were assessed at baseline and 6 months, and the autonomy supportiveness of clinical practitioners was assessed at 3 months. Perceptions of autonomy and competence were promoted by perceived autonomy support, and changes in perceptions of autonomy and competence, in turn, predicted change in glycemic control. Self-management behaviors mediated the relation between change in perceived competence and change in glycemic control. The self-determination process model fit the data well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can self-determination theory explain what underlies the productive, satisfying learning experiences of collectivistically oriented Korean students?

Recognizing recent criticisms concerning the cross-cultural generalizability of self-determination theory (SDT), the authors tested the SDT view that high school students in collectivistically oriented South Korea benefit from classroom experiences of autonomy support and psychological need satisfaction. In Study 1, experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness underlaid Korean students’ most satisfying learning experiences, and experiences of low autonomy and low competence underlaid their least satisfying learning experiences. In Study 2, psychological need satisfaction experiences were associated with productive (achievement and engagement) and satisfying (intrinsic motivation and proneness to negative affect) student outcomes. Study 3 replicated and extended Study 2’s structural equation modeling findings by showing that the hypothesized model explained students’ positive outcomes even after controlling for cultural and parental influences, including the collectivistic value orientation. Study 4 replicated the earlier cross-sectional findings with a semester-long prospective 3-wave design. The authors discuss how the findings support the motivation theory’s cross-cultural generalizability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An integrative cultural view of achievement motivation: Parental and classroom predictors of children's goal orientations when learning mathematics in Korea.

Our goal was to identify how students' perceptions of their parents shape the kind and degree of motivational goal orientations that they adopt in their mathematics classroom, broadening the application of achievement goal orientation theory and self-determination theory to students in Korea. Two groups of students participated, one from a middle school located in a large metropolitan area and the other from a small city high school. Multisample path analysis of data from both groups revealed that Korean students' different goal orientations were predicted by their perceptions of parental goals and motivating styles and by their perceptions of classroom goal structures, mediated by different types of self-regulated motivations. Particularly interesting was the finding that Korean students' degree of mastery goal adoption was associated mostly with identified regulation, not with intrinsic motivation, and predicted by their perceptions of their parents' motivating styles, both autonomy supportive and controlling, in addition to perceptions of parents' mastery goals. Perceptions of classroom goals were stronger predictors of students' own goals than were perceptions of parents' goals and motivating styles. We offer an integration of self-determination theory and achievement goal theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maladaptive achievement patterns: A test of a diathesis–stress analysis of helplessness.

The present study tested the assumptions, derived from a diathesis–stress model, that students' perceptions of autonomy–support in their classroom produce a relatively intrinsic as opposed to extrinsic motivational approach to academic tasks and that this approach, in turn, predicts qualitatively different responses to uncontrollable events. It was further assumed that students' motivational orientation would be more reliable than attributional style or perceptions of competence in predicting achievement patterns, including performance level after failure, use of adaptive attributions, and overall achievement scores. Results supported these predictions and further demonstrated, in longitudinal analyses, that motivational orientation may contribute to the formation of perceptions of competence and attributional style in students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predictors of global self-worth and academic performance among regular education, learning disabled, and continuation high school students

While academic performance and achievement motivation among elementary school students have received considerable attention, far less is known with respect to adolescents. The primary purpose of this project was to examine the ability of measures of perceived competence, control, and autonomy support to predict self-worth and academic performance with a group of regular education, learning disabled, and continuation high school students. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that indices of perceived competence, control, and autonomy support were significant predictors of self-worth and grade point average. Additionally, school status (i.e., regular education and continuation) and a depression variable were significant predictors in the regression model for academic performance. The results highlight the need for continued empirical investigation into issues surrounding the academic performance and achievement motivation of adolescents.     

Motivation, comportements organisationnels discrétionnaires et bien-être en milieu Africain: Quand le devoir oblige?

This study tested an organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) model based on the motivational model of job burnout (MMJB) with Gabonese employees (N = 146). It was hypothesized that to the degree that employees perceive their supervisors as promoting their autonomy, competence and relatedness, their motivation at work will be more self-determined. Supervisory style and motivation would then predict job satisfaction, which in turn influences life satisfaction. Work motivation and job satisfaction should also determine OCB and the latter should then influence life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling analyses overall support the model. However, altruism OCB was negatively related to self-determined motivations, which then negatively predicted life satisfaction. These results support SDT's prediction that a behaviour regulated by non-self-determined motivations will negatively affect well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Latent Motivational Change in an Academic Setting: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study.

This research examined changes in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation during the transition from junior to senior high school as well as the impact of motivational changes on various educational consequences (i.e., dropout intentions, absenteeism, homework frequency, and educational aspirations). A total of 646 participants completed a questionnaire in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade. Using the true intraindividual change modeling technique (R. Steyer, I. Partchev, & M. J. Shanahan, 2000), the authors reached results revealing that students' intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation decreased gradually from 8th to 10th grade. Furthermore, less educational adjustment was observed for students experiencing a decline in external regulation during the transitional year and students experiencing a decline in intrinsic motivation and identified regulation during the year after the transition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher motivational strategies and student self-determination in physical education.

Physical education teachers can influence students' self-determination through the motivational strategies they use. In this study, the authors examined the relationship between teachers' perceptions of class average self-determination, the teachers' self-determination, and their reported use of 3 motivational strategies: autonomy support, structure, and involvement. They examined the relationship between the 3 motivational strategies, students' perceptions of psychological need satisfaction, and students' self-determination. They also investigated the relationship between teachers' and students' self-determination. Multilevel and standard regression analyses revealed that teachers' perceptions of class average self-determination predicted their reported use of the motivational strategies, and this relationship was mediated by their own self-determination. Student perceptions of the three strategies had a positive effect on their own self-determination, and this relationship was mediated by their reported satisfaction of autonomy and competence. Finally, teachers' self-determination did not predict students' self-determination. The importance of promoting an adaptive motivational climate for both teachers and students is discussed with reference to self-determination theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reflected Appraisals, Academic Self-Perceptions, and Math/Science Performance During Early Adolescence.

The authors tested a model of the relations among adolescents' perceptions of parents', teachers', and classmates' support for, valuing of, and beliefs about their competence in math/science; adolescents' own academic self-perceptions concerning math/science; and their academic performance. The sample included 378 middle school students; 65% were Latino, and 21% were European American. Reflected appraisals of adults' beliefs concerning both the importance of and students' competence in math/science, as well as perceived support, predicted students' own self-perceived importance, competence, scholastic behavior, and performance in these courses. Latino students reported lower mean levels of perceived competence than did European American students (controlling for maternal education). Findings have important implications for understanding achievement socialization in ethnically diverse populations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic and emotional functioning in early adolescence: longitudinal relations, patterns, and prediction by experience in middle school

Adopting a motivational perspective on adolescent development, these two companion studies examined the longitudinal relations between early adolescents' school motivation (competence beliefs and values), achievement, emotional functioning (depressive symptoms and anger), and middle school perceptions using both variable- and person-centered analytic techniques. Data were collected from 1041 adolescents and their parents at the beginning of seventh and the end of eight grade in middle school. Controlling for demographic factors, regression analyses in Study 1 showed reciprocal relations between school motivation and positive emotional functioning over time. Furthermore, adolescents' perceptions of the middle school learning environment (support for competence and autonomy, quality of relationships with teachers) predicted their eighth grade motivation, achievement, and emotional functioning after accounting for demographic and prior adjustment measures. Cluster analyses in Study 2 revealed several different patterns of school functioning and emotional functioning during seventh grade that were stable over 2 years and that were predictably related to adolescents' reports of their middle school environment. Discussion focuses on the developmental significance of schooling for multiple adjustment outcomes during adolescence.     

Pygmalion revisited: New evidence for student expectancy effects in the classroom.

We conducted a field experiment to test the idea that students' expectations regarding their teacher's competence would influence their classroom behavior and academic achievement. At the end of a 3-week teaching unit, students in two high school classes who had been given an initial positive expectancy about their teacher's ability and motivation engaged in more appropriate and less inappropriate nonverbal behavior and received significantly higher final grades on the unit than did their peers in two no-expectation control classes. We speculate about both the direct (student-mediated) and indirect (teacher-mediated) processes by which students' expectations came to affect their academic outcomes. We also discuss the importance of group-level expectancies and some ethical issues in student expectancy research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Children who do well in school: Individual differences in perceived competence and autonomy in above-average children.

Self-determination theory and a motivational model of engagement were used to determine the impact of perceived competence and autonomy on engagement and performance in school of 77 3rd and 4th graders identified as above average in ability by scoring above the median on the Stanford Achievement Test. Despite this high ability, children who reported experiencing a lack of competence (those less certain of their abilities) or a lack of autonomy (being externally motivated) reported more negative affect and withdrawal behaviors than did children who perceived themselves as having ability or who perceived themselves to be autonomous. Implications for the achievement and adjustment of children in school are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social contagion of motivation between teacher and student: Analyzing underlying processes.

We examined (a) whether motivational orientation can spread from teachers to students during 2 consecutive teaching–learning sessions and (b) mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in a special physical education session delivered to high school students. Participants who were taught a sport activity by an allegedly paid instructor reported lower interest in learning and exhibited less persistence in a free-choice period than students taught by a supposedly volunteer instructor, despite receiving the same standardized lesson across experimental conditions. When participants taught the activity to their peers in a subsequent unconstrained learning session, lower levels of interest and behavioral persistence were also exhibited by learners who received the second lesson. A structural equation model confirmed that learners at the end of this educational chain made inferences about how intrinsically motivated their peer tutors were, on the basis of their teaching style (i.e., autonomy-supportive behaviors) and the positive affects they displayed. These inferences, in turn, affected the students' own intrinsic motivation for the activity. Results are interpreted in relation to self-determination theory, and practical implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Impact of social comparisons on the developing self-perceptions of learning disabled students.

Learning disabled (LD) children's self-perceptions were investigated using the Perceived Competence Scale for Children. This self-report instrument taps children's perceptions of their scholastic and athletic competence, social acceptance, and feelings of global self-worth. Participants in the study were 86 students in Grades 3–8 who attended a public school LD resource room. Results indicated that social comparison processes play an important role in the formation of LD students' perceived academic competence. LD students perceived themselves as becoming less academically competent across the grade span tested when they compared themselves with normally achieving students in their regular classes. When they compared their abilities with LD peers in their resource room, they maintained high perceptions of their own academic competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)