Dispositional achievement motives matter for autonomous versus controlled motivation and behavioral or affective educational outcomes

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The present study investigated whether autonomous and controlled situational achievement motivation function as mediating processes through which dispositional achievement motives are manifested in affective and behavioral outcomes. Structural Equation Modeling with three student samples (Greek N = 440; Belgian N = 283; German N = 264) indicated that need for achievement related positively to positive affect and adaptive studying strategies via autonomous motivation. In contrast, fear of failure related positively to negative affect and negatively to adaptive studying strategies via controlled motivation. Additionally, dispositional achievement motives were directly related to affect outcomes verifying their affect-base as argued in achievement motivation theory. The importance of individual differences in achievement motive dispositions for situational autonomous and controlled motivation is discussed

Perceived structure and achievement goals as predictors of student' self-regulated learning and affect and the mediating role of competence need satisfaction

Cataloged from PDF version of article.We investigated the extent to which perceived structure and personal achievement goals could explain students' effective learning strategies and affect-related experiences in a sample of Greek adolescent students (N=606; 45.4% males; mean age: M=15.05, SD=1.43). Having controlled for students' social desirability responses, we used multilevel analyses, and found that between-student (i.e., within class) differences in perceived structure related positively to learning strategies and positive affect and negatively to negative affect, with the relations being partially mediated by competence need satisfaction. In addition, we found between-student differences in the relations of mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performanceavoidance goals to the learning-strategy and affect outcomes. Moreover, at the between-class level, perceived structure related positively to learning strategies and positive affect, and negatively to depressive feelings. Finally, an interesting cross-level interaction between perceived structure and performance-avoidance goals for negative affect revealed that well-structured classrooms attenuated the positive, harmful relation between performance-avoidance goals and negative affect. These findings indicate the key role of structure and the endorsement of mastery-approach goals in the classroom

Personal and contextual antecedents of achievement goals: Their direct and indirect relations to students' learning strategies

Cataloged from PDF version of article.In this correlational research, we investigated to what extent achievement goals, in conjunction with need for achievement and fear of failure as well as perceived classroom goal structures, are related to learning strategies among upper elementary school students. After taking into account students' tendency to respond in a socially desirable way, we found, through path analysis, that mastery-approach goals partially mediated the relation of need for achievement and perceived mastery goal structures to learning strategies. These findings are discussed within the hierarchical model framework proposed by Elliot (1999). They suggest that the simultaneous examination of personal and contextual antecedents of achievement goals can enhance our understanding of the processes underlying achievement motivation and its outcomes

Within-person configurations and temporal relations of personal and perceived parent-promoted life goals to school correlates among adolescents

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Grounded in self-determination theory, this longitudinal study examined the academic correlates of middle and high school students' (N = 923; 33.4% male) intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations (i.e., life goals) and the type of aspirations that they perceive their parents to promote to them. Person-centered analysis revealed 3 meaningful groups: a relatively high intrinsic aspiration group, a relatively moderate intrinsic aspiration group, and a relatively high-intrinsic and high-extrinsic aspiration group. Tukey post hoc comparisons indicated that students in the high intrinsic aspiration group scored higher on mastery-approach goals, effort regulation, and grades than students in the other 2 groups and lower on performance-approach goals and test anxiety than students in the high-high aspiration group. A match between learners' own aspiration profile and the perceived parent-promoted aspiration profile did not alter these between-group differences. Further, intrapersonal fluctuations of intrinsic aspirations covaried with mastery-approach goals over a 1-year time interval, while extrinsic aspirations covaried with performance-approach goals and test anxiety in the same period; none of these within-person associations were consistently moderated by between-student differences in perceived parental aspiration promotion. Instead, perceived parent-promoted intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations were, respectively, positive and negative predictors of between-student differences in positive school functioning. The present results highlight the importance of endorsing and promoting intrinsic aspirations for school adjustment. © 2013 American Psychological Association

Adolescents’ autonomous functioning and implicit theories of ability as predictors of their school achievement and week-to-week study regulation and well-being

Research on students’ motivation has mainly focused on interpersonal differences rather than on the ongoing, intrapersonal dynamics that forge students’ everyday life. In this five-month longitudinal (diary) study, we recruited a sample of 179 high school students from Greece (35.8% males; Mage = 16.27; SD = 1.02) to investigate through multilevel analyses the ongoing dynamics of students’ motivation. We did so by examining the relation between autonomous functioning and aspects of study regulation (namely, study efforts and procrastination) and well-being (namely, subjective vitality and depressive feelings). After controlling for perceived competence, we found week-to-week autonomous functioning to relate positively to study efforts and subjective vitality and negatively to procrastination and depressive feelings. Interestingly, implicit theories of ability - the degree to which one believes that ability is fixed or amenable - were found to moderate the week-to-week relations of autonomous functioning to study efforts and homework procrastination. In particular, autonomous functioning co-varied positively to study efforts and negatively to homework procrastination only among students who believed that ability is malleable. Also, beliefs that ability is fixed predicted poorer grades, lower mean levels of study efforts, and higher homework procrastination. The results underscore the necessity of taking a more dynamic view when studying motivational phenomena and the importance of jointly considering the implicit theory framework and self-determination theory. © 2016 Elsevier Inc

Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals during task engagement: their relation to intrinsic motivation and cheating

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation of autonomous and controlling reasons underlying an endorsed achievement goal to intrinsic motivation and cheating. The endorsement of the achievement goal was ensured by involving 212 (Mage = 19.24, SD = .97) freshman students in a spatial task and asking them to report their most important achievement goal, as well as the reasons for adopting the goal, during the task. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that independent of the achievement goal the students adopted, the autonomous reasons for the endorsed goal were positively related to the indices of intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, the autonomous reasons underlying either performance or mastery-avoidance goals were negatively related to cheating. Alternatively, the controlling reasons for the endorsed goal were positively related to pressure and tension. The importance of considering both the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ aspect of achievement motivation are discussed. © 2015 Taylor & Francis

Social achievement goals, needs satisfaction, and coping among adolescents

In a sample of Turkish adolescents (N = 1614), we investigated whether pursuing social demonstration-approach goals (to attain popularity), next to social development goals (to cultivate meaningful relationships), explains differences in need satisfaction and frustration and coping. Cluster analysis showed that students who favored social development over social demonstration-approach goals reported less need frustration and defensive coping than students who favored both goals. These results were replicated with a prospective analysis with part of the initial sample (N = 425) as students who endorsed both goals reported more defensive coping five months later than students who mainly favored social development goals over social demonstration-approach goals. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Petrological evolution of the magmatic suite associated with the Coroccohuayco Cu(-Au-Fe) porphyry-skarn deposit, Peru

The petrological evolution of magmatic rocks associated with porphyry-related Cu deposits is thought to exert a first-order control on ore genesis. It is therefore critical to understand and recognize petrological processes favourable to the genesis of porphyry systems. In this study we present new petrographic, geochemical (whole-rock and mineral), and isotopic (Pb, Sr, Nd) data for rocks from the magmatic suite associated with the Eocene Coroccohuayco porphyry–skarn deposit, southern Peru. Previously determined radiometric ages on these rocks provide the temporal framework for interpretation of the data. Arc-style magmatic activity started at Coroccohuayco with the emplacement of a composite precursor gabbrodiorite complex at c. 40·4 Ma. After a nearly 5 Myr lull, magmatic activity resumed at c. 35·6 Ma with the rapid emplacement of three dacitic porphyries associated with mineralization. However, zircon antecrysts in the porphyries show that intra-crustal magmatic activity started c. 2 Myr before porphyry emplacement and probably built a large intra-crustal magmatic body with an associated large thermal anomaly. Our data suggest that all magmas underwent a period of evolution in the deep crust before transfer and further evolution in the upper crust. The gabbrodiorite complex was sourced from a heterogeneous deep crustal reservoir and was emplaced at a pressure of 100–250 MPa where it underwent a limited amount of fractionation and formed a chemically zoned pluton. Its initial water content and oxygen fugacity were estimated to be around 3 wt % H2O and NNO ± 1 (where NNO is the nickel–nickel oxide buffer), respectively. The deep crustal source of the porphyries appears to have been more homogeneous. The porphyries are interpreted to be the product of advanced differentiation of a parental magma similar to the gabbrodiorite. Most of this evolution occurred at deep crustal levels (around 800 MPa) through fractionation of amphibole + pyroxene + plagioclase ± garnet, leading to the development of a high Sr/Y signature characteristic of porphyry-related magmatism worldwide. Subsequent upper crustal evolution (100–250 MPa) was dominated by crustal assimilation, cannibalism of previously emplaced magma batches (proto-plutons) and magma recharge. Water content and oxygen fugacity were estimated to be around 5 wt % H2O and NNO + 1 to NNO + 2, respectively, at the end of the period of upper crustal evolution. This high oxygen fugacity is inferred to have favoured sulphur and metal enrichment in the melt. The high thermal regime generated through 2 Myr of sustained magmatism in the upper crust favoured crustal assimilation, proto-pluton cannibalism, and efficient metal extraction upon fluid exsolution. The Coroccohuayco magmatic suite appears to have acquired its metallogenic potential (high fO2, high Sr/Y) through several million years of deep crustal evolution

Begin-of-school-year perceived autonomy-support and structure as predictors of end-of-school-year study efforts and procrastination: the mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation

In this prospective study, we recruited a sample of Belgian adolescents (N = 886) to investigate to what extent perceived teachers’ motivating style relates to quality of motivation in the beginning of the school year and, in turn, changes in study effort and procrastination by the end of the school year. After controlling for initial levels of study effort and procrastination and for a shared variance due to classroom membership, we found, through path analysis, perceived autonomy support and structure to relate positively to autonomous motivation, which in turn predicted increased study effort and decreased procrastination at the end of the school year. The findings are discussed from a theoretical and practical standpoint. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou