Motivation and Achievement in Confucian Heritage Cultures

Abstract

Growth mindset (belief in the malleability of intelligence), mastery goal orientation (pursuing a task for its own sake), and intrinsic motivation (engaging in an activity due to interest) are three main motivation constructs that tend to positively predict achievement. However, a growing number of studies have found conflicting results in the Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHCs). This dissertation examines the relations between these motivation constructs and achievement by comparing students in the CHCs to those in other countries. Study 1 examines the relations between these motivation constructs and achievement. Study 2 examines how the value of effort in school mediates the relations between these motivation constructs and achievement. Study 3 focuses on how SES and gender moderate the relation between growth mindset and achievement. These studies find that although growth mindset tends not to predict achievement in CHCs, value of effort in school positively predicts achievement in these contexts, suggesting that growth mindset and value of effort in school are distinct constructs. In addition, SES moderates the association between growth mindset and achievement in some CHCs, with particularly interesting results in China, where this association is positive for low SES students and negative for high SES students. Lastly, unlike growth mindset and mastery goal orientation, intrinsic motivation positively predicts achievement across CHCs and other countries. Ultimately, these findings suggest that the relations between growth mindset/mastery goal orientation and achievement vary across different contexts, while intrinsic motivation may be the most generalizable of the three motivation constructs.