Achievement motivation revisited: new longitudinal data to demonstrate its predictive power

During recent decades, the classical one‐dimensional concept of achievement motivation has become less popular among motivation researchers. This study aims to revive the concept by demonstrating its predictive power using longitudinal data from two cohort samples, each with 20,000 Dutch secondary school students. Two measures of achievement motivation were constructed on the basis of Hermans' Achievement Motivation Test for Children. Results showed that these measures predicted later educational attainment and achievement, and were related to movements in educational career. Our measures of achievement motivation showed a certain stability over time; this stability decreased, however, with the length of the interval between measurements. In addition, a consistent decrease of motivation with age was found.