Achievement motivation in students' everyday lives: Its relationship to momentary positive and negative activation and the moderating role of mindfulness

in Learning and Individual Differences (2022), 97

In achievement motive theory, need for achievement is conceptualized as an explanatory variable that triggers certain experiences and behaviors spontaneously. Experience sampling should therefore be an ... [more ▼]

In achievement motive theory, need for achievement is conceptualized as an explanatory variable that triggers certain experiences and behaviors spontaneously. Experience sampling should therefore be an ideal approach for capturing such motive-specific affective contingencies. However, given that not all students seem to be aware of their underlying motives, the link between self-reported need for achievement and daily experiences may depend on their mindfulness level. In a sample of university students (N = 107), self-reported fear of failure predicted momentary negative activation across activity contexts in everyday life. In addition, hope of success predicted positive activation in more mindful students and in nonroutine situations (e.g., studying, working, or leisure time). Together, these findings are a first step toward illuminating the phenomenological and excitatory nature of need for achievement in students' everyday lives and illustrate the necessity of noticing motive-specific cues in order to integrate them into the explicit motivational self-concept. [less ▲]

Need for Cognition and its relation to academic achievement in different learning environments

in Learning and Individual Differences (2022), 93

The present study investigates how Need for Cognition (NFC), an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking, relates to academic achievement in 9th grade students (N = 3.355) attending different ... [more ▼]

The present study investigates how Need for Cognition (NFC), an individual's tendency to engage in and enjoy thinking, relates to academic achievement in 9th grade students (N = 3.355) attending different school tracks to understand whether school track moderates this relation when controlling for student background variables. Using structural regression analyses, our findings revealed small and significant positive relations between NFC and academic achievement in German, French and Math. Relations were strongest in the highest and weakest in the lowest track. No significant track difference between the highest and the intermediary track could be identified; significant differences of small effect size between the intermediary and the lowest track were found in favor of the intermediary track in the relation between NFC and academic achievement in German and Math. These findings underpin the importance of NFC in academic settings, while highlighting that the relation between NFC and achievement varies with the characteristics of different learning environments. [less ▲]

Circadian preference as a typology: Latent-class analysis of adolescents' morningness/eveningness, relation with sleep behavior, and with academic outcomes

in Learning and Individual Differences (2020), 78

Motivational foundations of self-control and mindfulness and their role in study-leisure conflicts

in LEARNING AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (2018), 68

In the present paper, we compared two self-regulatory capacities, trait self-control and mindfulness, with respect to their potential to help students deal with motivational conflicts between studying and ... [more ▼]

In the present paper, we compared two self-regulatory capacities, trait self-control and mindfulness, with respect to their potential to help students deal with motivational conflicts between studying and leisure time, by either promoting a selective, normatively oriented versus open-minded, non-judgmental stance toward conflicting motivations. We also investigated the role of value orientations and need satisfaction is this regard. Study 1 (N = 196) initially showed that trait self-control, but not trait mindfulness, goes along with a preference for achievement-oriented over well-being-oriented values, which might explain the academic benefits associated with self-control. Study 2 (N = 306) replicated the link between value orientations and trait self-control. In line with this motivational pattern, we found context-specific effects for self-control in study leisure conflict scenarios, consolidating academic engagement, but not leisure engagement. Consolidating effects for trait mindfulness were context-transcending and independent from value orientations. Finally, in Study 3 (N = 160), we found evidence that the total effects of trait self-control and mindfulness are differentially mediated via either activity preferences (self-control) or need satisfaction (mindfulness). We discuss motivational interpretations for self-control and mindfulness with respect to the daily juggle between students' academic and leisure-related strivings. [less ▲]

Assimilation and contrast effects in the formation of problem-solving self-concept

in Learning and Individual Differences (2017), 54

Teacher judgments as measures of children's cognitive ability: A multilevel analysis

in Learning and Individual Differences (2016), 52

Short-term and medium-term effects of grade retention in secondary school on academic achievement and psychosocial outcome variables

in Learning and Individual Differences (2016), 50

Cross-national gender differences in complex problem solving and their determinants.

in Learning and Individual Differences (2014), 29

The present study examined cross-national gender differences in domain-general complex problem solving (CPS) and their determinants. A CPS test relying on the MicroDYN approach was applied to a sample of ... [more ▼]

The present study examined cross-national gender differences in domain-general complex problem solving (CPS) and their determinants. A CPS test relying on the MicroDYN approach was applied to a sample of 890 Hungarian and German high school students attending 8th to 11th grade. Results based on multi-group confirmatory factor analyses showed that measurement invariance of CPS was found across gender and nationality. Analyses of latent mean differences revealed that males outperformed females and German students outperformed Hungarian students. However, these results were caused by Hungarian females performing worse than all other groups. Further analyses of logfiles capturing process data of the interaction of participants with the task showed that Hungarian females less often used vary-one-thing-at-a-time strategy, which lead to considerably worse knowledge acquisition. Results imply that analyzing process data such as use of strategies is highly advisable to identify determinants of overall performance differences in CPS across groups of interest. [less ▲]

PISA proficiency scores predict educational outcomes

in Learning and Individual Differences (2013), 24

Motivational profiles in study-leisure conflicts: Quality and quantity of motivation matter

in Learning and Individual Differences (2013), 26

The effects of the quality and quantity of motivation were compared in relation to students' levels of experienced internal conflict in a specific study-leisure conflict using a person-oriented analysis ... [more ▼]

The effects of the quality and quantity of motivation were compared in relation to students' levels of experienced internal conflict in a specific study-leisure conflict using a person-oriented analysis on self-reports of 336 college students. Latent-profile-analysis identified three motivational profiles for learning and two motivational profiles for leisure. Consistent with a qualitative perspective on motivation, students with Good quality profiles for "reading papers" reported the least internal conflict under the temptation of a social activity. However, in accordance with the quantitative perspective on motivational interference, students with High quantity profiles for learning reported more internal conflict while imagining themselves socializing than students with Good and Poor quality profiles did. Similar effects for the leisure profiles and additional variable-oriented analyses confirmed the assumption that the quality of motivation best explains students' ongoing experience during a focal activity, whereas the effects of indirect motivational costs stemming from the motivational characteristics of missed activities are best described quantitatively. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [less ▲]