This article aimed to test some hypotheses about the hierarchical structure of self-determined motivation in two longitudinal studies. First, the authors verified the stability of global self-determined motivation and school self-determined motivation over time. Second, they tested top-down, bottom-up, reciprocal, and horizontal effects between global self-determined motivation and school self-determined motivation. In Study 1, 122 college students were evaluated on two occasions with a 5-year interval on their global and school self-determined motivation. In Study 2, 294 college students were evaluated on the same variables with a 1-year interval. Results from both studies revealed that (a) global self-determined motivation was not more stable than self-determined school motivation over time and (b) a cross-lag model including reciprocal effects between self-determined global and self-determined school motivation offered the best fit indices comparatively to a model involving only horizontal (or stability) effects. Discussion emphasizes the theoretical implications of the results.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238-246.
2.
Bentler, P. M. (1992). EQS: Structural equation program manual. Los Angeles: BMDP Statistical Software.
3.
Bentler, P. M. (1993). EQS: Structural equation program manual. Los Angeles: BMDP Statistical Software.
4.
Blais, M. -R., Sabourin, S., Boucher, C., & Vallerand, R. -J. (1990). Toward a motivational model of couple happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59, 1021-1031.
5.
Blais, R., Vallerand, R. J., Brière, N. M., & Gagnon, A. (1990). Significance, structure, and gender differences in life domains of college students. Sex-Roles, 22, 199-212.
6.
Blanchard, C. M., Vallerand, R. J., & Provencher, P. (1995). Une analyse des effets bidirectionnels entre la motivation contextuelle et la motivation situationnelle en milieu naturel [An analysis of the bidirectional effects between contextual and situational motivation in a natural setting]. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Québec Society for Research in Psychology, Ottawa.
7.
Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1-2, Serial No. 209), 3-35.
8.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. Bollen & R. Stine (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
Campbell, D. T., & Kenny, D. A. (1999). A primer on regression artifacts. New York: Guilford.
10.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
11.
Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
12.
Deci, E. L. (1975). Intrinsic motivation. New York: Plenum.
13.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.
14.
Fortier, M. S., Vallerand, R. J., & Guay, F. (1995). Academic motivation and school performance: Toward a structural model. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20, 257-274.
15.
Grolnick, W. S., & Ryan, R. M. (1987). Autonomy in children's learning: An experimental and individual difference investigation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 890-898.
16.
Guay, F., Blais, M. R., Vallerand, R. J., & Pelletier, L. G. (1999). The Global Motivation Scale. Unpublished manuscript, Université du Québec à Montréal.
17.
Guay, F., Boggiano, A. K., & Vallerand, R. J. (2001). Autonomy support, motivation, and perceived competence: Conceptual and empirical linkages. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 643-650.
18.
Guay, F., & Vallerand, R. J. (1997). Social context, students' motivation, and academic achievement: Toward a process model. Social Psychology of Education, 1, 211-233.
19.
Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., & Blanchard, C. (2000). On the assessment of situational intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The Situational Motivation Scale. Motivation and Emotion, 24, 175-213.
20.
Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self: A developmental perspective. New York: Guilford.
21.
Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1976). Statistical models and methods for test-retest situations. In D. N. M. De Gruijter & Leo J. Th. Van Der Kamp (Eds.), Advances in psychological and educational measurement (pp. 135-157). New York: John Wiley.
22.
Jöreskog, K. G., & Sörbom, D. (1993). LISREL 8: Structural equation modeling with the SIMPLIS command language. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
23.
Kline, R. B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
24.
Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children's interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the “overjustification effect.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129-137.
25.
Marsh, H. W., & Hau, K. T. (1996). Assessing goodness of fit: Is parsimony always desirable? Journal of Experimental Education, 64, 364-390.
26.
Marsh, H. W., & Yeung, A. S. (1998). Top-down, BU, and horizontal models: The direction of causality in multidimensional, hierarchical self-concept models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 509-527.
27.
Ryan, R. M., & Connell, J. P. (1989). Perceived locus of causality and internalization: Examining reasons for acting in two domains. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 749-761.
28.
Schumacker, R. E., & Lomax, R. G. (1996). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
29.
Shavelson, R. J., Hubner, J. J., & Stanton, G. C. (1976). Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407-441.
30.
Snyder, M., & Cantor, N. (1998). Understanding personality and social behavior: A functionalist strategy. In D. Gilbert & S. Fiske (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 1, 4th ed., pp. 635-679). New York: McGraw-Hill.
31.
Sörbom, D. (1976). A statistical model for the measurement of change in true scores. In D. N. M. De Gruijter & Leo J. Th. Van Der Kamp (Eds.), Advances in psychological and educational measurement(pp. 159-170). New York: John Wiley.
32.
Vallerand, R. J. (1997). Toward a hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp. 271-360). New York: Academic Press.
33.
Vallerand, R. J., Blais, M. R., Brière, N. M., & Pelletier, L. G. (1989). Construction et validation de l'échelle de motivation en éducation (EME). Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 21, 323-349.
34.
Vallerand, R. J., Chantal, Y., Guay, F., & Brunel, P. (2001). From contextual motivation to situational motivation: A top-down analysis. Manuscript submitted for publication.
35.
Vallerand, R. J., Fortier, M. S., & Guay, F. (1997). Self-determination and persistence in a real-life setting: Toward a motivational model of high school dropout. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 1161-1176.
36.
Vallerand, R. J., Guay, F., Blanchard, C. M., Mageau, G., & Cadorette, I. (2001). A confirmatory test of some elements of the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Manuscript submitted for publication.
37.
Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., Blais, M. R., Brière, N. M., Senécal, C., & Vallières, E. F. (1992). The Academic Motivation Scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 52, 1003-1019.
38.
Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., Blais, M. R., Brière, N. M., Senécal, C., & Vallières, E. F. (1993). On the assessment of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education: Evidence on the concurrent and construct validity of the Academic Motivation Scale. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 53, 159-172.
39.
Vallerand, R. J., & Ratelle, C. F. (2002). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: A hierarchical model. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 37-69). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
40.
Williams, G. C., Grow, V. M., Freedman, Z. R., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1996). Motivational predictors of weight loss and weight-loss maintenance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 115-126.
