Cross Cultural Model Testing: Inventory of School Motivation

Abstract

This study was concerned with the factorial validation of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM), an instrument based on a theory of personal investment and the possible use of derived ISM factor scales as predictors of student motivation to continue with schooling for three cultural groups (aboriginal, anglo, and migrant). Responses to the ISM from a total of 2152 Australian secondary students were subjected to principal axis factor analyses which yielded factor scales congruent with the personal investment theory and which were employed as variables in a series of discriminant analyses. The findings supported the usefulness of both the theoretical framework as well as the validity of the ISM in analyzing influential motivational variables for individuals from different cultural groups in educational settings.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Braskamp, L. A. and Maehr, M. L. (1983). Personal investment: Theory, assessment and application. Revision of paper presented at A.E.R.A., Montreal.

Davidson, A. R. and Thomson, E. (1980). Cross-cultural studies on attitudes and beliefs. In H. C. Triandis and R. Brislin (Eds.), Handbook of cross-cultural psychology: Vol. 5. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

DeVos, G. A. (1968). Achievement and innovation in culture and personality: The case of Japanese-Americans. In G. DeVos (Ed.), Socialization for achievement: Essays on the cultural psychology of the Japanese. Berkeley: University of California Press.

DeVos, G. A. and Caudhill, W. (1973). Achievement, culture and personality: The case of Japanese-Americans. In G. A. DeVos (Ed.), Socialization for achievement. Essays on the cultural psychology of the Japanese. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Draguns, J. G. (1979). Culture and personality. In A. J. Marsella , R. G. Tharp , and T. J. Ciborowski (Eds.), Perspectives on cross-cultural psychology. New York: Academic Press.

Maehr, M. L. (1974). Culture and achievement motivation. American Psychologist, 29, pp. 887-896.

Maehr, M. L. (1984). Meaning and motivation. Toward a theory of personal investment. In R. Ames and C. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education: Vol. 1. Student motivation. Orlando: Academic Press.

Maehr, M. L. and Braskamp, L. A. (1986). The motivation factor: A theory of personal investment. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington.

Maehr, M. L. and Nicholls, J. C. (1980). Culture and achievement motivation. A second look. In N. Warren (Ed.), Studies in cross-cultural psychology: Vol. 2. London: Academic Press.

10.

McInerney, D. M. (1988). The psychological determinants of motivation of urban and rural non-traditional aboriginal students in school settings: A cross-cultural study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation presented to the University of Sydney, Australia.

11.

Nie, N. and Hull, C. (1981). SPSS update. New York: McGraw-Hill.

12.

Nie, N. , Hull, C. , Jenkins, J. , Steinbrenner, K. , and Bent, D. (1975). SPSS: Statistical package for the social sciences (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

13.

Pederson, P. Non-western psychology: The search for alternatives. In A. J. Marsella , R. G. Tharp and T. J. Ciborowski (Eds.), Perspectives on cross-cultural psychology. New York: Academic Press.