Causal models of achievement motive, goal orientation, intrinsic interest, and academic achievement in classroom

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of achievement motive on goal orientation, and that of goal orientation on intrinsic interest in learning and academic achievement, based on the model proposed by Elliot and Church (1997). A sample of 222 fifth and sixth grade students of an elementary school, and another of 307 seventh, eighth and ninth grade students of a junior high school participated in the study. The approach-avoidance framework of Elliot and Harackiewicz (1996) was used to classify goal orientations. With multiple-sample structural equation modeling, the paths in two causal models, one for each of the elementary and junior high school samples, were compared. A path was found from hope for success to mastery orientation, from both hope for success and fear of failure to performance-approach orientation, and from fear of failure to performance-avoidance orientation. Mastery and performance-approach orientations each had a positive effect on intrinsic interest in learning. For elementary school children, performance-approach orientation enhanced academic achievement, and for junior high school students, mastery orientation mainly facilitated it. Performance-avoidance orientation had a negative effect on both intrinsic interest and academic achievement.