Relation between views of competitions on university entrance examinations, motivation for learning, anxiety, and learning dispositions

Abstract

The present study examined high school students' perspectives on the competition on university entrance examinations, and investigated relations between the students' views of this competition and their motiva- ion for learning, anxiety, and learning dispositions. In a pilot study, a questionnaire about students' views of the competition on entrance examinations was developed. Explanatory factor analysis identified 2 factors: "views of exhaustion" and "views of self-development". In the main study, Japanese high school students (N = 576) completed the questionnaire. The results suggested that high school students consider competition on university entrance examinations to be an opportunity for personal development, rather than an occasion for becoming exhausted. In addition, the results of a multilevel analysis showed that the students' views of exhaustion were positively correlated with extrinsic motivation and anxiety, and that heir views of self-development were a positive predictor of identified motivation and intrinsic motivation, and a negative predictor of impromptu use of strategies. These results suggest that effects of competition on university entrance examinations may vary according to students' views of competition.