Research on perfectionism and achievement motivation: implications for gifted students

Perfectionism has been associated with a rigid adherence to impossibly high standards, an irrational importance on the attainment of these standards, and a tendency to overgeneralize failures. Researchers have primarily focused on how perfectionism predicts psychological adjustment; yet, recent research also indicates that perfectionism impacts students' achievement motivation. In this article, research on the relationship between perfectionism and achievement motivation in non‐gifted students is reviewed. Conclusions about perfectionism and achievement motivation in non‐gifted students will highlight directions for future research and implications for enhancing the achievement motivation of gifted students with perfectionism. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Mastery motivation,parenting, and school achievement among Hungarian adolescents

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Children’s motivation to master challenging tasks is an important predictor of school success, and yet, such motivation declines during...     

An investigation of gender and age differences in academic motivation and classroom behaviour in adolescents

This study investigated gender- and age-related differences in academic motivation and classroom behaviour in adolescents. Eight hundred and fifty-five students (415 girls and 440 boys) aged 11–16 (M age = 13.96, SD = 1.47) filled in a questionnaire that examined student academic motivation and teachers completed a questionnaire reporting student classroom behaviour. Interestingly, early adolescent boys’ (11–12 years) self-reported academic motivation was significantly more closely associated with reports of student classroom behaviour completed by teachers. However, a surprising result was the significant drop in girls’ adaptive motivation from early to mid-adolescence (13–14 years) and a significant increase in mid-adolescence (13–14 years). Furthermore, teachers reported a significant increase in negative classroom behaviour in mid-adolescent and late adolescent girls (15–16 years). The need to further understand the association between academic motivation and classroom behaviour at different stages in adolescence, and to design interventions to improve classroom behaviour, is deliberated.     

Academic underachievement: Relationship with cognitive motivation,achievement motivation,and conscientiousness

In this study, the role of need for cognition, achievement motivation, and conscientiousness on academic underachievement was investigated. Forty‐seven male and 46 female students in Grades 7 to 10 participated in the study. Student attributes were assessed by self‐report measures, school performance by academic grades, and intellectual abilities by a standardized structure of intelligence test. A regression analytic model (prediction of grade point average by general intelligence) was used to operationally define underachievement. A categorical cutoff definition as well as a continuous definition was investigated. All relationships between underachievement scores and need for cognition, achievement motivation scales, and conscientiousness showed linearity. This warranted the use of a continuous definition of underachievement. Results revealed that need for cognition as well as facilitating anxiety contributed the most to the explanation of underachievement. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 401–411, 2006.     

Informational reception apprehension,educational motivation,and achievement

This study explored the relationship among informational reception apprehension (IRA) factors, student motivation, and student achievement. Based on Wheeless, Preiss, and Gayle's (1997) recently developed construct, the authors hypothesized that IRA scores for listening and inflexibility would predict educational motivation scores and measures of achievement. Furthermore, this study extended existing research on student motivation and the effects of antecedent conditions, such as trait‐like IRA. Results indicated that informational reception apprehension can be taken into consideration in order to account more adequately for student motivation and achievement.     

Self-rated mental health, school adjustment, and substance use in hard-of-hearing adolescents

This survey, "Life and Health-Young People 2005," included all 15/16-year-old adolescents in mainstream schools in the county of Orebro, Sweden. Just students with a slight/mild or moderate hearing loss were included. There were 56 (1.9%) "hard-of-hearing (HH) students with multiple disabilities," 93 (3.1%) students who were "just HH," 282 (9.7%) students with some "other disability than HH," and 2,488 (85.2%) students with "no disability." "HH with multiple disabilities" reported considerably higher scores for mental symptoms, substance use, and school problems than the "no disability" group. Those with "just HH" and those with "other disability than HH" had more mental symptoms and school problems than the "no disability" group but no significant differences in substance use. In conclusion, the combination of a hearing loss and some other disability strongly increases the risk for mental symptoms, school problems, and substance use. This group, thus, is an important target for preventive measures.     

Learning environment,motivation, and achievement in high school science

In a study of the relationship between high school students' perceptions of their science learning environments and their motivation, learning strategies, and achievement, 377 students in 22 introductory science classrooms completed surveys in the fall and spring of their ninth‐grade year. Hierarchical linear regression was used to model the effects of variables at both the classroom and individual level simultaneously. High intraclass agreement (indicated by high parameter reliability) on all classroom environment measures indicated that students shared perceptions of the classroom learning environment. Controlling for other factors, shared perceptions that only the most able could succeed in science classrooms and that instruction was fast‐paced and focused on correct answers negatively predicted science achievement, as measured on a districtwide curriculum‐linked test. Shared perceptions that classrooms focused on understanding and independent thinking positively predicted students' self‐reported satisfaction with learning. Implications of these results for both teaching and research into classroom environments are discussed. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 40: 347–368, 2003     

Relations between adolescents’ self-evaluations, time perspectives, motivation for school and their achievement in different countries and at different ages

The present study focused on the relations between the self-efficacy, social self-concept, time perspectives, school investment and academic achievement of students in four different European countries and in different adolescence periods. A total of 1623 students completed questionnaires. The relations between the concepts proved not to be specific to the Western or to the former Communist bloc countries studied. The expected general decline in investment and academic achievement over the adolescence period showed up in all four countries studied. Contrary to our hypothesis, however, this decline could not be explained by growing influences of either social self-concept or time perspectives regarding personal development on their investment. In fact, the effects of social self-concept were strongest for the youngest adolescence group. Students’ social self-concept was the best predictor for their investment, while self-efficacy proved to predict academic achievement best in all adolescence periods.     

Enhancing achievement motivation and performance in college students: An attributional retraining perspective

Academic performance in higher education ultimately involves a complex interplay of student attributes and the educational environment. Although instruction is regarded as the major environmental factor affecting scholastic success, other factors can become more important when teaching does not produce the desired results. Attributional retraining is one alternative that shows considerable promise for enhancing students' motivation and achievement striving by changing how students think about their successes and failures. This paper reviews attributional retraining studies published since 1985 having a higher education focus. Their conceptual and methodological strengths and weaknesses are discussed in relation to Weiner's attribution theory. Within this context, attributional retraining is presented as a potentially viable and important intervention for improving college students' academic development, especially those students deemed to be at risk. In particular, attributional retraining is considered as an adjunct to, and possible aspect of, effective teaching.Support for this research was provided to Raymond P. Perry by Franz E. Weinert, Max Planck Institute, Munich, and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#410-91-1296). The junior authors contributed equally to the article and are listed alphabetically.     

00后高中生心理健康状况的调查研究

以辽宁省公立学校的18个班级选取了747名被试,其中男性303名,女性434名,采用了SCL-90。研究发现:(1)34%的高中生存在轻度心理健康问题。(2)高一高二学生在焦虑存在着显著性差异,高一明显高于高二。(3)高中生心理健康状况性别上存在显著差异。     

Multidimensional perfectionism in a sample of middle school students: An exploratory investigation

In this exploratory study, 185 middle school students were administered the Almost Perfect Scale‐Revised and the Behavioral Assessment System for Children‐Self Report. Self‐reported grade‐point average was also obtained. Students who established high personal standards but nonetheless recognize their limitations (adaptive perfectionists) reported significantly higher (i.e., more positive) scores on a number of academic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal variables. However, the perceived inability for some students to consistently meet their high standards (maladaptive perfectionists) was significantly and negatively related to perceptions of school and family relationships, and greater emotional distress. Implications of these findings and future research and clinical suggestions are provided. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 40: 677–689, 2003.     

Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals

This article takes a critical look at three pervasive urban legends in education about the nature of learners, learning, and teaching and looks at what educational and psychological research has to say about them. The three legends can be seen as variations on one central theme, namely, that it is the learner who knows best and that she or he should be the controlling force in her or his learning. The first legend is one of learners as digital natives who form a generation of students knowing by nature how to learn from new media, and for whom “old” media and methods used in teaching/learning no longer work. The second legend is the widespread belief that learners have specific learning styles and that education should be individualized to the extent that the pedagogy of teaching/learning is matched to the preferred style of the learner. The final legend is that learners ought to be seen as self-educators who should be given maximum control over what they are learning and their learning trajectory. It concludes with a possible reason why these legends have taken hold, are so pervasive, and are so difficult to eradicate.     

高职班级心理委员心理健康状况调查分析

本文以广州市某高职院校为例,使用大学生人格问卷(UPI)对2010、2011两届共203名新生心理委员进行测试与统计,了解心理委员队伍整体心理健康状况,为心理委员群体的选拔和后继培训提供实证依据。     

Subject-matter oriented measurement of achievement motivation

European Journal of Psychology of Education -     

A profile of motivation,self-perception,and achievement in black urban elementary students

The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of a sample of black urban elementary students based on motivational tendencies, self-perceptions, and achievement. The article explores the intrinsic motivation and self-perceptions of these students and seeks to find relationships among these qualities and academic achievement and attendance. The results of the study present a profile that reflects a lack of social acceptance of vocabulary skills and a lack of social acceptance of preferring challenging work. Perception of scholastic competence was related to behavioral conduct but not to global self-worth. The results supported previous research indicating that some black students perceive schooling and academic success as inconsistent with their racial-cultural goals. Implications for urban schools are presented.This is a revised version of a paper presented in April 1990 at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, MA.     

Study procrastination, achievement, and academic motivation in web-based and blended distance learning

Growth in distance education is increasing the need to examine students' learning strategies in distance and blended learning environments. Students' cramming or spaced-review behaviors were measured and compared across delivery formats as well as examined related to course achievement and attitudes across a term. Although theory would predict that spaced study rather than last minute cramming would yield higher achievement, researchers report mixed findings in both areas. One hundred fifty-seven students in distance and blended course formats were blocked into 5 groups based on their cramming/spaced-review patterns a week prior to each of 3 posttests. Significant differences were observed in cramming/spaced-review behaviors between delivery formats and for achievement and attitudes.     

An investigation of the relationship between metacognition and mathematics achievement

The aim of this study is to determine fifth-grade students’ metacognitive knowledge and skills and its relationship with mathematics achievements. A total of 242 primary school students from six different schools were participated in the study. Turkish version of Metacognitive Knowledge and Skills Assessment (MSA-TR) was used to measure metacognitive knowledge and skills. The results demonstrated a significant and positive relationship (r = .648, p < .01) between metacognition and mathematics achievement. Furthermore, research results showed that 42% of total variance of mathematics achievement could be explained with metacognitive knowledge and skills.