Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-27T07:43:55.998Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Student Motivation Scale: A Tool for Measuring and Enhancing Motivation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Andrew J. Martin
Andrew J. Martin*
Affiliation:
AJ Martin Research
*
AJ Martin Research, PO Box 380 Summer Hill, New South Wales, Australia, 2130. E-Mail: [email protected]. Internet: www.ajmartinresearch.com
Get access

Abstract

This paper assesses the psychometric properties of the Student Motivation Scale, an instrument measuring school students' motivation. Motivation is assessed through nine measures, separated into what are referred to as boosters and guzzlers. Boosters are constructs that reflect adaptive motivation and guzzlers are constructs that reflect less adaptive motivation. Boosters are subsumed by thoughts (self-belief, learning focus, value of schooling) and behaviours (persistence and planning and monitoring). Guzzlers are subsumed by thoughts or feelings (low control and anxiety) and behaviours (avoidance and self-sabotage). Data show that the Student Motivation Scale has a clear factor structure reflecting the hypothesised five boosters and four guzzlers, is reliable, and correlated with achievement. Gender and year level differences also emerge: girls are significantly more learning focused and engage in more planning and monitoring than boys; girls are significantly more anxious than boys; Year 9 students are significantly lower than Year 10 and Year 11 students in learning focus, significantly higher than Year 11 students in avoidance, and significantly higher than Year 10 and Year 11 students in self-sabotage. Strategies for intervention are discussed in the context of these findings and the issue of academic resilience is introduced as an additional aspect of motivation that the Student Motivation Scale is able to assess.

Type
Research papers
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 11 , November 2001 , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alpert, R., & Haber, R.N. (1960). Anxiety in academic achievement situations. Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology, 61, 207–215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Atkinson, J.W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking. Psychological Review, 64, 359–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman & Co.Google Scholar
Catterall, J.S. (1998). Risk and resilience in student transitions to high school. American Journal of Education, 106, 302–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, J.P. (1985). A new multidimensional measure of children's perceptions of control. Child Development, 56, 1018–1041.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Covington, M.V. (1992). Making the grade: A self-worth perspective on motivation and school reform. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craven, R.G., Marsh, H.W., & Debus, R.L. (1991). Effects of internally focused feedback and attributional feedback on the enhancement of academic self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 83, 17–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, T., & Paster, V.S. (2000). Nurturing resilience in early adolescence: A tool for future success. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 15, 17–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duda, J.L. (1992). Motivation in sport settings: A goal perspective approach. In Roberts, G.C. (Ed.). Motivation in sport and exercise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Books.Google Scholar
Duda, J.L., & Nicholls, J.G. (1992). Dimensions of achievement motivation in schoolwork and sport. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 290–2991.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eccles, J. (1983). Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In Spence, J. (Ed). Achievement and achievement motivation. San Francisco: Freeman.Google Scholar
Finn, J.D., & Rock, D.A. (1997). Academic success among students at risk for school failure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 221–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fuller, A. (2000). Bungy jumping through the ups and downs of life. Journal of Contemporary Analysis, 72, 25–27.Google Scholar
Gilligan, R. (1999). Enhancing the resilience of children and young people in public care by mentoring their talents and interests. Child and Family Social Work, 4, 187–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gonzalez, R., & Padilla, A.M. (1997). The academic resilience of Mexican American high school students. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 19, 301–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harter, S., & Connell, J.P. (1984). A model of children's achievement and related self-perceptions of competence, control, and motivation orientation. In Nicholls, J. (Ed.). The development of achievement motivation. London: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Lefcourt, H.M., Von Baeyer, C.L., Ware, E.E., & Cox, D.J. (1979). The Multidimensional-Multiattributional Causality Scale: The development of a goal specific locus of control scale. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 11, 286–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindstroem, B. (2001). The meaning of resilience. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 13, 7–12.Google Scholar
Lochbaum, M.R., & Roberts, G.C. (1993). Goal orientations and perceptions of the sport experience. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 15, 160–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luthar, S.S., & Cicchetti, D. (2000). The construct of resilience: Implications for interventions and social policies. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 857–885.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luthar, S.S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development, 71, 543–562.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marsh, H.W. (1990). A multidimensional, hierarchical model of self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychology Review, 2, 77–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, A.J. (1998). Self-handicapping and defensive pessimism: Predictors and consequences from a self-worth motivation perspective. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Western Sydney, Macarthur.Google Scholar
Martin, A.J., & Debus, R.L. (1998). Self-reports of mathematics self-concept and educational outcomes: The roles of ego-dimensions and self-consciousness. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68, 517–535.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martin, A.J.Marsh, H.W., & Debus, R.L. (2001). Self-handicapping and defensive pessimism: Exploring a model of predictors and outcomes from a self-protection perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 87–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, A.J.Marsh, H.W., & Debus, R.L. (in press). A quadripolar need achievement representation of self-handicapping and defensive pessimism. American Educational Research Journal.Google Scholar
Masten, A.S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56, 227–238.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McClelland, D.C. (1965). Toward a theory of motive acquisition. American Psychologist, 20, 321–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McInerney, D. (2000). Helping kids achieve their best. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Meece, J.L., Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J.S. (1990). Predictors of mathematics anxiety and its influence on young adolescents' course enrolment intentions and performance in mathematics. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 60–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middleton, M.J., & Midgley, C. (1997). Avoiding the demonstration of lack of ability: An unexplored aspect of goal theory. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 710–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, R.B., Greene, B.A., Montalvo, G.P., Ravindran, B., & Nichols, J.D. (1996). Engagement in academic work: The role of learning goals, future consequences, pleasing others, and perceived ability. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 21, 388–422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Crime Prevention (1999b). Pathways to prevention: Developmental and early intervention approaches to crime in Australia. Canberra: National Crime Prevention.Google Scholar
Nicholls, J.G. (1989). The competitive ethos and democratic education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Overstreet, S., & Braun, S. (1999). A preliminary examination of the relationship between exposure to community violence and academic functioning. School Psychology Quarterly, 14, 380–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patrick, B.C., Skinner, E.A., & Connell, J.P. (1993). What motivates children's behavior and emotion? Joint effects of perceived control and autonomy in the academic domain. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 781–791.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pintrich, P.R., & Blumenfeld, P.C. (1985). Classroom experience and children's self-perceptions of ability, effort, and conduct. Journal of Educational Psychology, 77, 646–657.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qin, Z., Johnson, D.W., & Johnson, R.T. (1995). Cooperative versus competitive efforts and problem solving. Review of Educational Research, 65, 129–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schunk, D.H. (1990). Introduction to the special section on motivation and efficacy. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 3–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shochet, I., & Osgarby, S. (1999). The Resourceful Adolescent Project: Building psychological resilience in adolescents and their parents. Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 16, 46–65.Google Scholar
Skinner, E.A., Wellborn, J.G., & Connell, J.P. (1990). What it takes to do well in school and whether I've got it: A process model of perceived control and children's engagement and achievement in school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82, 22–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slap, G.B. (2001). Current concepts, practical applications and resilience in the new millenium. International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health, 13, 75–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548–573.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiner, B., Frieze, L., Kukla, A., Reed, L., Rest, S., & Rosenbaum, R. (1971). Perceiving the causes of success and failure. In Jones, E.E.., Kanouse, D.E.., Kelley, H.H.., Nisbett, R.E.., Valin, S.., & Weiner, B. (eds). Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.Google Scholar
Wigfield, A. (1994). Expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation: A developmental perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 6, 49–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar