Achievement goal theory has long been a dominant model in the study of student motivation. However, a relatively small number of researchers have investigated gender differences in achievement goals or have considered the possible role that social and extrinsic goals may play in student academic motivation. Adopting a person-centered multiple…

Much of the research on achievement goal theory has focused on the roles of mastery and performance goals in academic engagement, thus the role of other goals such as social goals has mostly been neglected. The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of different kinds of social goals (affiliation, approval, concern, responsibility and…

The authors examined the relations between two socially oriented dimensions of student motivation and academic achievement of Native (Navajo) American and Anglo American students. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a multidimensional and hierarchical model was found to explain the relations between performance and social goals. Four first-order…

There is a general belief that Lebanese-background students in Australia do not usually perform well at school. This study examines the school achievement of Lebanese-background students and the major motivational factors related to their achievement. A total of 271 Year Nine students (117 Lebanese-background and 154 non-Lebanese background) in…

A study in 12 New South Wales (Australia) high schools investigated differences in motivation for Aboriginal (n=496), migrant (n=487), and Anglo (n=1172) students. A consistent picture of the urban Aboriginal child emerged, and key variables in his decision making (self-reliance, confidence, and goal direction) were identified as well as…

Students from a school in Hong Kong (n = 199) responded to 22 items asking about their school motivation and aspirations in a survey. Structural equation models found four school motivation factors consistent with the task, effort, competition, and praise scales of the Inventory of School Motivation, one education aspiration factor, one career…

The aim of the present study was to better understand the combined and unique effects of teacher-student and parent-child relationships in students' achievement motivation and self-esteem. Participants were 3450 high school students administered items assessing their interpersonal relationships, academic motivation and engagement, academic…

Over 500 Navajo high school students completed the Inventory of School Motivation, based on the personal investment model of motivation. Results suggest that the model's most salient elements for this group were sense-of-self components and one task component, striving for excellence. Combinations of variables were useful in predicting student…

Examines M. L. Maehr's Personal Investment Model of motivation. Presents evidence for the usefulness of the theoretical framework and the validity of the Inventory of School Motivation, based on the theory, using data for 2,152 high school students from aboriginal (n=492), migrant (n=487), and Anglo (n=1,173) backgrounds in Australia. (SLD)

In many countries there remain substantial sex differences in enrolments in elective science courses, despite concerted efforts in recent years to alleviate them. This paper explores the reasons for these differences by comparing models of male and female enrolment intentions in elective courses in biology, chemistry and physics. The models are…