Final report of the project "Determinats of school motivation"

Not only cognitive skills but also students’ motivation and personality are essential for students’ learning and achievement. In my research, I dealt with (1) the influence of significant others on students’ motivation, (2) the validation of motivational constructs, and (3) students’ personality. (1) The influence of significant others on students’ motivation can be reflected in the use of social comparisons (comparing one’s achievement in one subject with the achievement of one’s classmates in the same subject). Two models address the operation of social comparisons in the formation of students’ academic self-concept as one facet of students’ academic motivation: The internal/external frame of reference (I/E) model and the Big-FishLittle-Pond Effect (BFLPE). According to the I/E model, social and dimensional comparisons (comparing one’s own achievement in one subject with one’s own achievement in another subject) are involved in the formation of students’ academic self-concept. The generalized (G)I/E model extends the I/E model. My research contributes to the further development and validation of the GI/E model. I could show that the I/E model can be extended to test anxiety and interest as two other motivational facets. I extended the I/E model using different school subjects such as foreign languages and physical ability. I probed for the generalizability of the GI/E model across different student groups. I proposed the RGI/E model as a longitudinal application of the GI/E model. Further, I examined the tenability of the GI/E model assumptions when using a person-centred approach. The BFLPE has primarily been only examined using the self-concept as an outcome variable and with samples of secondary school students. In one study, I demonstrated that the BFLPE is already at place in elementary school years and is stronger for self-concept than for interest. (2) For further validation of different motivational constructs, I examined relations between academic self-concept and related constructs such as self-efficacy and value. Academic selfconcept was shown to be distinctive from but also related to other motivational constructs. I studied the structure of academic self-concept using different modelling strategies and discussed the corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Finally, I demonstrated that prominent findings for the academic self-concept construct referring to core school subjectsSeite 4 von 9 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Kennedyallee 40 ∙ 53175 Bonn ∙ Postanschrift: 53170 Bonn Telefon: + 49 228 885-1 ∙ Telefax: + 49 228 885-2777 ∙ postmaster@dfg.de ∙ www.dfg.de DFG can be transferred to self-concept in music; music has a dual character as it is realized inside and outside school. (3) To study the role of personality for students’ learning, I examined the relation between conscientiousness and achievement. I further developed a valid and short instrument to measure conscientiousness within student samples. In two papers, I dealt with the modelling of personality. I could demonstrate the usefulness of exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) and its superiority relative to traditional confirmatory factor analyses; ESEM capture the conceptual overlap between single personality facets.