Achievement goal profiles among adolescent males and females.

Abstract

Achievement goal theory has long been a dominant model in the study of student motivation. However, a relatively small number of researchers have investigated gender differences in achievement goals or have considered the possible role that social and extrinsic goals may play in student academic motivation. Adopting a person-centered multiple goals perspective based on personal investment theory, this longitudinal study investigated whether males and females shared similar goal profiles, and whether the predictors (facilitating conditions) and outcomes (learning processes, task perseverance, and future aspirations) of these profiles were equivalent across genders. Profiles were extracted from 8 types of academic goals, based on a large sample of Hong Kong high school students (N = 7,848). Findings revealed 5 distinctive profiles for both males and females. Although the relative size of these profiles differed across samples of male and female students, the results show that 4 of these profiles were mostly equivalent across genders. Predictors of membership into these profiles were also equivalent across genders, whereas their relative outcomes were specific to gender.

Same mindset, different goals and motivational frameworks: Profiles of mindset-based meaning systems

“…Results from multinomial logistic regressions indicate that boys were more likely than girls to belong to Ability-Focused and Disengaged profiles relative to the Growth-Focused profile, especially in English. These findings echo person-centred studies guided by other motivational theories, which show that girls tend to display more adaptive patterns of motivation than boys (Litalien et al, 2017;Schwinger et al, 2016;Vansteenkiste et al, 2009).…”

Striving for Success but at What Cost? Subject-Specific Achievement Goal Orientation Profiles, Perceived Cost, and Academic Well-Being

“…A most recent, although yet less applied, classification of goals combines valence with another kind of definition of competence (i.e., in reference to task, self, or others) to create six distinct goals (Elliot et al, 2011). Lastly, some extensions incorporate social goals either as students' social reasons for engaging in academic activities or as students' strivings for social competence (e.g., Dowson and McInerney, 2001;Gonçalves et al, 2017;Litalien et al, 2017a).…”

A test of work motivation profile similarity across four distinct samples of employees

“…The next model of structural similarity, although it resulted in a slightly lower CAIC value than the model of configural similarity, also resulted in higher values on the BIC and ABIC, suggesting that the structure of the profiles may not be fully identical across the four samples. Following procedures outlined in Litalien, Morin, and McInerney (2017) for tests of partial structural similarity, we first conducted a detailed visual inspection of the nature of the profiles identified in each of the samples in the previous model of configural similarity. This examination suggested that at least five out of six profiles appeared to be roughly identical across all samples, while the remaining profile appeared different in the nurse sample (Sample 3).…”