Social-motivational processes and interpersonal relationships: Implications for understanding motivation at school.

Abstract

Social-motivational processes and socialization experiences can play a critical role in students' academic success. However, the search for specific mechanisms and processes that explain these social influences on motivation is still in its inception. The purpose of this article was to begin to articulate some of these processes in the hope that more precise explanations of influence will emerge. The 1st section of the article focuses on ways in which social-motivational processes are relevant for understanding motivation to achieve academically, using goal pursuit as a case in point. Models describing complementary, developmental, and hierarchical relations among social and task-related goals and their implications for understanding student achievement are presented. Then, ways in which students' social encounters and experiences with parents, teachers, and peers might influence their adoption and internalization of socially valued goals are examined. New directions for theoretical and empirical inquiry are presented. I thank Allan Wigfield and Martin Ford for their insightful comments on earlier versions of this article.

The influence of personal networks and social support on study attainment of students in university education

“…Perceived social and emotional support from parents, other family members and from peers has been found positively related to motivational outcomes of undergraduate students (Kennedy et al 1988;Wentzel 1998;Wentzel 1999). Support from parents, peers and others might play a role in buffering the influence of stress on motivation by means of enhancing well-being (Wentzel 1999).…”

“…Network members can motivate students' desire to achieve academically by providing them with standards and expectations for performance. The quality of these relationships can also influence the likelihood that these goals will be pursued (Ryan 2000(Ryan , 2001Wentzel 1999;Wentzel et al 2004).…”

From early attachment to engagement with learning in school: The role of self-regulation and persistence.

“…In the current article, we examine children's behavior in the classroom, and particularly their engagement with learning, because this should be a highly discriminating context for observing the effects of individual differences in self-regulatory capacity, is an important context in which conscientiousness is manifest and develops and because of its broader relevance for subsequent achievement (e.g., see Wentzel, 1999;Wolters, 1999). A further reason for choosing this outcome is that it represents a more novel outcome from the point of view of existing attachment research, and hence affords the opportunity for a more exacting test of the theory outlined above.…”

A Review of the Relationship Among Parenting Practices, Parenting Styles, and Adolescent School Achievement

“…Several theories have organized and examined the research on adolescent family-school linkages (e.g., Bronfenbrenner, 1979;Grusec, 2002;Wentzel, 1999). In this article, Darling and Steinberg's (1993) contextual model of parenting is used as an overarching framework to examine the relationship among parenting practices, parenting styles, and adolescent school outcomes.…”

“…Within these two developmental contexts, adolescents interact with and are influenced by multiple socialization agents, including their parents, teachers, and peers (Maccoby and Martin, 1983;Parke and Buriel, 1998;Wentzel, 1999). Adolescence is a particular period of human development in which the interface of the school and home contexts gain critical importance (Paulson, 1994;Steinberg and Silk, 2002).…”