Normative and appearance performance-approach goal structures: Two-level factor structure and external linkages

While personal performance-approach goals (PAp goals) have already been successfully bifurcated into normative and appearance PAp goals, the same distinction has not yet been applied to performance-approach goal structures (PAp goal structures). The present study therefore aimed to (a) test the factorial two-level structure of PAp goal structures to establish whether a distinction between normative and appearance components is empirically supported, and (b) explore relations to achievement and approach-oriented achievement goals (mastery-approach goals, normative and appearance personal PAp goals). This study relied on a sample of 1,004 secondary school students (53.38% females, 49 classes). Results from multilevel confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a model with two separate normative and appearance PAp goal structure factors on the individual student level, and one overall PAp goal structure factor on the classroom level fit the data best. On the individual student level, normative PAp goal structures positively predicted achievement, whereas appearance PAp goal structures negatively predicted achievement. Each PAp goal structure type showed the strongest relation to the matching personal PAp goal, but no relations to mastery-approach goals were found. On the classroom level, the high associations between the overall PAp goal structure and personal PAp goals raised concerns on their empirical distinctiveness

Adolescent well-being and learning in times of COVID-19-A multi-country study of basic psychological need satisfaction, learning behavior, and the mediating roles of positive emotion and intrinsic motivation

The sudden switch to distance education to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally altered adolescents' lives around the globe. The present research aims to identify psychological characteristics that relate to adolescents' well-being in terms of positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and key characteristics of their learning behavior in a situation of unplanned, involuntary distance education. Following Self-Determination Theory, experienced competence, autonomy, and relatedness were assumed to relate to active learning behavior (i.e., engagement and persistence), and negatively relate to passive learning behavior (i.e., procrastination), mediated via positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation. Data were collected via online questionnaires in altogether eight countries from Europe, Asia, and North America (N = 25,305) and comparable results across countries were expected. Experienced competence was consistently found to relate to positive emotion and intrinsic learning motivation, and, in turn, active learning behavior in terms of engagement and persistence. The study results further highlight the role of perceived relatedness for positive emotion. The high proportions of explained variance speak in favor of taking these central results into account when designing distance education in times of COVID-19.Peer reviewe