Factorial and Construct Validity of a New Instrument for the Assessment of Reading Motivation

Abstract

A B S T R A C TReading motivation has been defined consistently as a multidimensional construct. However, there is some disagreement regarding the number and nature of the dimensions of reading motivation. In particular, there is a lack of studies investigating the dimensional structure and measurement invariance (e.g., across gender) of reading motivation questionnaires. Based on earlier instruments, qualitative findings referring to students' reasons for reading, and theoretical considerations, we developed the Reading Motivation Questionnaire (RMQ). A sample of 883 sixth-grade students was presented with 34 reading motivation items pertaining to seven dimensions. Five of these dimensions (i.e., curiosity, involvement, grades, competition, social recognition) referred to Wigfield and Guthrie's Motivations for Reading Questionnaire, whereas two dimensions (i.e., emotional regulation, relief from boredom) were based on recent qualitative findings. The results from confirmatory factor analyses supported the hypothesized factor structure. In addition, three higher order factors were identified: intrinsic, extrinsic, and regulatory reading motivation. Moreover, strict measurement invariance across female and male students and across groups with low versus high reading competence was established. Construct validity of the RMQ was supported by the contributions of the RMQ factors to reading amount, fluency, and comprehension and by the predicted gender differences in the dimensions of reading motivation.

What Makes Elementary School Students Read in Their Leisure Time? Development of a Comprehensive Questionnaire

“…This is a problem that related studies also had to deal with (cf. Miesen, ; Schiefele & Schaffner, ).…”

“…Taking a closer look at the existing questionnaires on determinants of student reading including the MRQ (Möller & Bonerad, ; Schaffner & Schiefele, ; Schiefele & Schaffner, ; Wigfield & Guthrie, , ), it becomes obvious that they tend to stress the importance of intrapersonal aspects while paying less attention to the subjective evaluation of environmental circumstances, such as the availability of books, the availability of time, or cost–benefit considerations. However, research on various leisure time activities has shown that such environmental factors also affect the conscious decision on whether to engage in a behavior or to avoid it (e.g., Murnaghan et al., ; Rhodes & Dean, ; van Schooten, de Glopper, & Stoel, ).…”

“…With regard to children, Schiefele and Schaffner (, ) also found evidence of the relevance of environmental circumstances: To investigate the content validity of their own reading motivation questionnaire based on the MRQ, they recently conducted a qualitative interview study with students in sixth grade, asking them about their reading activities (for the quantitative scale development work, see Schaffner & Schiefele, ). Most notably, it emerged that the dimension reading because of boredom or lack of alternatives had been missing (Schiefele & Schaffner, ); in their revised instrument, they added this dimension as a new factor, relief from boredom (Schiefele & Schaffner, ).…”

Tournament Satisfaction Scale (TOSS)

“…Contacting those people from different areas provided rich amount of feedbacks for finalizing the measure. The fourth stage was exploratory factor analysis which reveals factor structure of the scales and provides evidence for construct validity (Museus, Zhang & Kim, 2016;Schiefele & Schaffner, 2016). Each item was responded on a 9-point rating scale ranging from "very poorly" to "very well" in order to avoid difficulty in differentiating responses (Uzuntiryaki & Aydın, 2009).…”

Adolescent reading and the reproduction of literary judgement: what adolescent book reviews of self-selected texts reveal

“…Reading motivation has often been proven to be a multidimensional construct (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997;Schiefele & Schaffner, 2016). This includes activityrelated reading motivation (the readiness to read) and object-related reading motivation (interest in specific texts and in the contents of texts).…”