Dennis M Mcinerney
Biographic Data
| ID | 113188 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Dennis M Mcinerney |
| GIVEN NAMES | Dennis M |
| FAMILY NAME | Mcinerney |
| SIGNATURE | MCINERNEY D M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Education University of Hong Kong |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1339-1744 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 39 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 104 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 39 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1987 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Multi-target commitment profiles and their links to motivational orientation, turnover intentions, and personal adjustment: An investigation with Hong Kong teachers
Prosocial motivation leads to better learning when mastery motivation is high: The synergistic effects of prosocial and mastery goals
Conflicting or compatible? Evaluating teachers’ self-transcendence versus self-enhancement values from a multilevel perspective
Ability grouping and student performance: A longitudinal investigation of teacher support as a mediator and moderator
The advantages and disadvantages of ability grouping for student achievement are strongly contested, with studies presenting different results. However, much of this research has focused on class-level or subject-level ability grouping. Relatively less research has focused on school-level ability grouping. More importantly, the role of teacher support has often been neglected in the ability grouping literature. The aim of this study was to shed l…
Belonging: A review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research
Objective: A sense of belonging – the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences – is a fundamental human need that predicts numerous mental, physical, social, economic, and behavioural outcomes. However, varying perspectives on how belonging should be conceptualised, assessed, and cultivated has hampered much-needed progress on this timely and important topic. To address t…
Is Grittiness Next to Happiness? Examining the Association of Triarchic Model of Grit Dimensions with Well-Being Outcomes
Gender and cultural differences in school motivation
The purpose of this research was to explore gender differences and cultural differences in school motivation among students from eight culturally diverse groups from Western and non-Western societies. The selected groups come from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, and Qatar. More than 10,000 secondary school students reported their mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic motivation. Results showed (very) small…
Teachers’ occupational attributes and their psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction, occupational self-concept and quitting intentions
Complementary Variable- and Person-Centered Approaches to the Dimensionality of Psychometric Constructs: Application to Psychological Wellbeing at Work
How Social Are Social Media? A Review of Online Social Behaviour and Connectedness
The use of social media is rapidly increasing, and one of the major discussions of the 21st century revolves around how the use of these applications will impact on the social relationships of users. To contribute to this discussion, we present a brief narrative review highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of social media use on three key aspects of social connectedness: social capital, sense of community, and loneliness. The results indi…
Different goals for different folks: A cross-cultural study of achievement goals across nine cultures
Achievement goal profiles among adolescent males and females
Achievement goal theory has long been a dominant model in the study of student motivation. However, a relatively small number of researchers have investigated gender differences in achievement goals or have considered the possible role that social and extrinsic goals may play in student academic motivation. Adopting a person-centered multiple goals perspective based on personal investment theory, this longitudinal study investigated whether males…
Personal best ( PB ) goal structure, individual PB goals, engagement, and achievement: A study of C hinese‐ and E nglish‐speaking background students in A ustralian schools
BACKGROUND: Prior cross-cultural research with students in different national contexts (Australia and China) has shown consistency in the extent to which individual personal best (PB) goals are associated with engagement at school. AIMS: This study extends this work to a multicultural context, assessing perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals among Chinese- and English-speaking background Australian high school students atte…
Do goals lead to outcomes or can it be the other way around: Causal ordering of mastery goals, metacognitive strategies, and achievement
BackgroundGoal theory research has mostly focused on the unidirectional effects of goals on learning strategies and academic achievement. Reciprocal relationships have mostly been neglected.AimsThe primary aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations and causal ordering of mastery goals, metacognitive strategy use, and academic achievement.SampleA total of 8,773 secondary students drawn from three cohorts in Hong Kong participated in…
Culturalizing motivation research in educational psychology
Exploring commitment and turnover intentions among teachers: What we can learn from Hong Kong teachers
Growth trajectories of mathematics achievement: Longitudinal tracking of student academic progress
BackgroundA number of methods to investigate growth have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical linear modelling (HLM), latent growth modelling (LGM), and multidimensional scaling applied to longitudinal profile analysis (LPAMS).AimsThis study aimed at modelling the mathematics growth of students over a span of 6 years from Grade 3 to Grade 9.SampleThe sample comprised secondary longitudinal data collected in three waves from n =…
Culture's Consequences on Student Motivation: Capturing Cross-Cultural Universality and Variability Through Personal Investment Theory
Culture influences basic motivational processes; however, Western theories of achievement motivation seem to have neglected the role of culture. They are inadequate when trying to explain student motivation and engagement across a wide range of cultural groups because they may not have the conceptual tools needed to handle culturally relevant information. Personal investment (PI) theory is proposed as a viable alternative that could be used acros…
Motivation Matters: Profiling Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students' Motivational Goals
This research explored gender and cross-cultural similarities and differences in the motivational profiles of Indigenous Papua New Guinean (PNG) and Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Secondary students (N = 1,792) completed self-report motivational measures. Invariance testing demonstrated that the Inventory of School Motivation (McInerney, Yeung, & McInerney, 2001) measure was invariant across both gender and Indigenous and non-Indigeno…
Indigenous Secondary Education in the Northern Territory: Building for the Future
This article reports on the findings of an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project, 'Building the future for Indigenous students', an investigation of the hopes and dreams for the future of over 1,000 secondary students, 733 of whom were Indigenous, living in very remote, remote, and urban locations in the Northern Territory. Using both quantitative and qualitative research tools, researchers sought to understand what motivated …
The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect and a National Policy of Within-School Ability Streaming: Alternative Frames of Reference
The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the lower-ability stream had higher ESCs and MSCs. Consistent with the local-dominance effect, the effect o…
Including social goals in achievement motivation research: Examples from the Philippines
Traditional theories of achievement motivation such as achievement goal theory mostly neglected its more social aspects. This paper focuses on social goal as a key construct and argues for the need to include social goals in the research agenda. This is especially important when conducting research among collectivist societies where the interdependent self-construal is more salient. Examples of social goal research done within one collectivist cu…
Cross-Cultural Validation of the Sense of Self (SoS) Scale in Chinese and Filipino Settings
Competitiveness is not that bad…at least in the East: Testing the hierarchical model of achievement motivation in the Asian setting
Facilitating Conditions for School Motivation: Construct Validity and Applicability
Elementary students ( n = 277, in Grades 5-6) and high school students ( n = 615, in Grades 7-12) responded to 26 items of McInerney’s Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire (FCQ). Confirmatory factor analyses of the FCQ found seven distinct factors underlying these items. These were perceived value of schooling (Value), affect toward schooling (Affect), peer positive academic climate (Peer Positive), parent positive academic climate (Parent Posit…
Exploring commitment and turnover intentions among teachers: What we can learn from Hong Kong teachers
Teachers’ occupational attributes and their psychological wellbeing, job satisfaction, occupational self-concept and quitting intentions
Cultural Perspectives on School Motivation: The Relevance and Application of Goal Theory
The aim of this research was to determine whether the goals held by students from diverse cultural backgrounds differ and to determine the relationship of these goals to school motivation and achievement. Participants completed a self-report instrument (the Inventory of School Motivation) based on goal theory. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the adequacy of the instrument for use across the selected groups. Group differen…
Growth trajectories of mathematics achievement: Longitudinal tracking of student academic progress
BackgroundA number of methods to investigate growth have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical linear modelling (HLM), latent growth modelling (LGM), and multidimensional scaling applied to longitudinal profile analysis (LPAMS).AimsThis study aimed at modelling the mathematics growth of students over a span of 6 years from Grade 3 to Grade 9.SampleThe sample comprised secondary longitudinal data collected in three waves from n =…
The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect and a National Policy of Within-School Ability Streaming: Alternative Frames of Reference
The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the lower-ability stream had higher ESCs and MSCs. Consistent with the local-dominance effect, the effect o…
Cross-cultural insights into school motivation and decision making
(1992). Cross‐cultural insights into school motivation and decision making. Journal of Intercultural Studies: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 53-74
Dimensions of School Motivation: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study
This article examines Maehr's Personal Investment Model of motivation, which has clear and significant implications for cross-cultural research in education. The design and validation of the Inventory of School Motivation (1SM) based on Personal Investment Theory is described. Evidence is presented for both the usefulness of the theoretical framework and the validity of the ISM in analyzing motivational variables for individuals from different cu…
Ability grouping and student performance: A longitudinal investigation of teacher support as a mediator and moderator
The advantages and disadvantages of ability grouping for student achievement are strongly contested, with studies presenting different results. However, much of this research has focused on class-level or subject-level ability grouping. Relatively less research has focused on school-level ability grouping. More importantly, the role of teacher support has often been neglected in the ability grouping literature. The aim of this study was to shed l…
Achievement goal profiles among adolescent males and females
Achievement goal theory has long been a dominant model in the study of student motivation. However, a relatively small number of researchers have investigated gender differences in achievement goals or have considered the possible role that social and extrinsic goals may play in student academic motivation. Adopting a person-centered multiple goals perspective based on personal investment theory, this longitudinal study investigated whether males…
Culturalizing motivation research in educational psychology
The Behavioral Intentions Questionnaire: An Examination of Face and Etic Validity in an Educational Setting
In the present study exploratory factor analysis is used to establish the etic validity of the Triandis model (as represented by the Behavioral Intentions Questionnaire) for each of three Australian cultural groups: Aboriginal, Anglo, and Migrant. It is also used to determine the emic content of the variables relevant to each of the groups. Multiple regression analysis is used to establish and compare the key predictors of behavioral intention ba…
The Determinants of Motivation for Urban Aboriginal Students: A Cross-Cultural Analysis
As part of a larger study into the psychological determinants of motivation of urban Aboriginal school students, the Triandis model of social behavior was used to examine a range of variables considered important in influencing behavior. A comparative study, utilizing multiple regression analysis, was made of the responses of 496 Aboriginal students, 487 migrant students, and 1,172 Anglo students to the Behavioural Intentions Questionnaire. The s…
Indigenous Secondary Education in the Northern Territory: Building for the Future
This article reports on the findings of an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project, 'Building the future for Indigenous students', an investigation of the hopes and dreams for the future of over 1,000 secondary students, 733 of whom were Indigenous, living in very remote, remote, and urban locations in the Northern Territory. Using both quantitative and qualitative research tools, researchers sought to understand what motivated …
An Investigation Of Ethnic Differences In The Motivation And Strategies For Learning Of Students In Desegregated South African Schools
No significant ethnic group differences were found in the academic motivation or learning strategies of more than 200 White and 200 Black South African students from two recently integrated secondary schools. Both groups considered working hard and having interest in school tasks to be more important than competition or affiliation. The former items tended to be the best predictors in both groups of the use of deep learning strategies, which are …
Urban aboriginal parents' views on education: A comparative analysis
Different goals for different folks: A cross-cultural study of achievement goals across nine cultures
Do goals lead to outcomes or can it be the other way around: Causal ordering of mastery goals, metacognitive strategies, and achievement
BackgroundGoal theory research has mostly focused on the unidirectional effects of goals on learning strategies and academic achievement. Reciprocal relationships have mostly been neglected.AimsThe primary aim of this study was to examine the reciprocal relations and causal ordering of mastery goals, metacognitive strategy use, and academic achievement.SampleA total of 8,773 secondary students drawn from three cohorts in Hong Kong participated in…
Gender and cultural differences in school motivation
The purpose of this research was to explore gender differences and cultural differences in school motivation among students from eight culturally diverse groups from Western and non-Western societies. The selected groups come from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, and Qatar. More than 10,000 secondary school students reported their mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic motivation. Results showed (very) small…
Motivation Matters: Profiling Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students' Motivational Goals
This research explored gender and cross-cultural similarities and differences in the motivational profiles of Indigenous Papua New Guinean (PNG) and Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Secondary students (N = 1,792) completed self-report motivational measures. Invariance testing demonstrated that the Inventory of School Motivation (McInerney, Yeung, & McInerney, 2001) measure was invariant across both gender and Indigenous and non-Indigeno…
Achievement Motivation and Indigenous Minorities: Can Research Be Psychometric
Educational research among indigenous peoples has often been flawed. Many studies on achievement motivation failed to establish that the behaviors and responses being measured were functionally, conceptually, or metrically equivalent to those from which norms for comparison were drawn and that the constructs and tools used were culturally appropriate. In this article, I report on continuing research with Australian Aboriginal and Navajo communiti…
The need for the continuing education of teachers: A multicultural perspective
Urban aboriginal parents' views on education: A comparative analysis
The Determinants of Motivation for Urban Aboriginal Students: A Cross-Cultural Analysis
As part of a larger study into the psychological determinants of motivation of urban Aboriginal school students, the Triandis model of social behavior was used to examine a range of variables considered important in influencing behavior. A comparative study, utilizing multiple regression analysis, was made of the responses of 496 Aboriginal students, 487 migrant students, and 1,172 Anglo students to the Behavioural Intentions Questionnaire. The s…
Cross Cultural Model Testing: Inventory of School Motivation
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 w…
The Behavioral Intentions Questionnaire: An Examination of Face and Etic Validity in an Educational Setting
In the present study exploratory factor analysis is used to establish the etic validity of the Triandis model (as represented by the Behavioral Intentions Questionnaire) for each of three Australian cultural groups: Aboriginal, Anglo, and Migrant. It is also used to determine the emic content of the variables relevant to each of the groups. Multiple regression analysis is used to establish and compare the key predictors of behavioral intention ba…
Cross-cultural insights into school motivation and decision making
(1992). Cross‐cultural insights into school motivation and decision making. Journal of Intercultural Studies: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 53-74
Dimensions of School Motivation: A Cross-Cultural Validation Study
This article examines Maehr's Personal Investment Model of motivation, which has clear and significant implications for cross-cultural research in education. The design and validation of the Inventory of School Motivation (1SM) based on Personal Investment Theory is described. Evidence is presented for both the usefulness of the theoretical framework and the validity of the ISM in analyzing motivational variables for individuals from different cu…
Achievement Motivation and Indigenous Minorities: Can Research Be Psychometric
Educational research among indigenous peoples has often been flawed. Many studies on achievement motivation failed to establish that the behaviors and responses being measured were functionally, conceptually, or metrically equivalent to those from which norms for comparison were drawn and that the constructs and tools used were culturally appropriate. In this article, I report on continuing research with Australian Aboriginal and Navajo communiti…
Cultural Perspectives on School Motivation: The Relevance and Application of Goal Theory
The aim of this research was to determine whether the goals held by students from diverse cultural backgrounds differ and to determine the relationship of these goals to school motivation and achievement. Participants completed a self-report instrument (the Inventory of School Motivation) based on goal theory. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to establish the adequacy of the instrument for use across the selected groups. Group differen…
The Designing of the Computer Anxiety and Learning Measure (Calm): Validation of Scores on a Multidimensional Measure of Anxiety and Cognitions Relating to Adult Learning of Computing Skills using Str…
This article discusses the process through which a powerful multidimensional measure of affect and cognition in relation to adult learning of computing skills, the Computer Anxiety and Learning Measure (CALM), was derived from its early theoretical stages to validation of its scores using structural equation modeling. The discussion emphasizes the importance of ensuring a strong substantive basis from which to develop reliable items for a measure…
Social Identity and Navajo High School Students: Is a Strong Social Identity Important in the School Context
In this paper, we explore the concept of identity. We do this by suggesting that one's identity self-concept is multi-dimensional (personal, social, & cultural). Before examining the question in the title, we distinguish between these constructs. We then describe social identity theory and illustrate its utility by examining Navajo high school students' positive and negative ability beliefs about school and how social identity theory might explai…
An Investigation Of Ethnic Differences In The Motivation And Strategies For Learning Of Students In Desegregated South African Schools
No significant ethnic group differences were found in the academic motivation or learning strategies of more than 200 White and 200 Black South African students from two recently integrated secondary schools. Both groups considered working hard and having interest in school tasks to be more important than competition or affiliation. The former items tended to be the best predictors in both groups of the use of deep learning strategies, which are …
The Development and Validation of the Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies Survey (Goals-S)
This article outlines the construction and validation of the Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies Survey (GOALS-S). This 84-item survey was designed to measure students’ motivational goal orientations and their cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Results of first-order confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) supported the factorial validity of the GOALS-S scales measuring students’ goals and strategies (with goodness-of-fit indices in post-ho…
Facilitating Conditions for School Motivation: Construct Validity and Applicability
Elementary students ( n = 277, in Grades 5-6) and high school students ( n = 615, in Grades 7-12) responded to 26 items of McInerney’s Facilitating Conditions Questionnaire (FCQ). Confirmatory factor analyses of the FCQ found seven distinct factors underlying these items. These were perceived value of schooling (Value), affect toward schooling (Affect), peer positive academic climate (Peer Positive), parent positive academic climate (Parent Posit…
For What Should Theological Colleges Educate? A Systematic Investigation of Ministry Education Perceptions and Priorities
Competitiveness is not that bad…at least in the East: Testing the hierarchical model of achievement motivation in the Asian setting
Including social goals in achievement motivation research: Examples from the Philippines
Traditional theories of achievement motivation such as achievement goal theory mostly neglected its more social aspects. This paper focuses on social goal as a key construct and argues for the need to include social goals in the research agenda. This is especially important when conducting research among collectivist societies where the interdependent self-construal is more salient. Examples of social goal research done within one collectivist cu…
Cross-Cultural Validation of the Sense of Self (SoS) Scale in Chinese and Filipino Settings
The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect and a National Policy of Within-School Ability Streaming: Alternative Frames of Reference
The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the lower-ability stream had higher ESCs and MSCs. Consistent with the local-dominance effect, the effect o…
Culture's Consequences on Student Motivation: Capturing Cross-Cultural Universality and Variability Through Personal Investment Theory
Culture influences basic motivational processes; however, Western theories of achievement motivation seem to have neglected the role of culture. They are inadequate when trying to explain student motivation and engagement across a wide range of cultural groups because they may not have the conceptual tools needed to handle culturally relevant information. Personal investment (PI) theory is proposed as a viable alternative that could be used acros…
Motivation Matters: Profiling Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Students' Motivational Goals
This research explored gender and cross-cultural similarities and differences in the motivational profiles of Indigenous Papua New Guinean (PNG) and Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Secondary students (N = 1,792) completed self-report motivational measures. Invariance testing demonstrated that the Inventory of School Motivation (McInerney, Yeung, & McInerney, 2001) measure was invariant across both gender and Indigenous and non-Indigeno…
Indigenous Secondary Education in the Northern Territory: Building for the Future
This article reports on the findings of an Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research project, 'Building the future for Indigenous students', an investigation of the hopes and dreams for the future of over 1,000 secondary students, 733 of whom were Indigenous, living in very remote, remote, and urban locations in the Northern Territory. Using both quantitative and qualitative research tools, researchers sought to understand what motivated …
Exploring commitment and turnover intentions among teachers: What we can learn from Hong Kong teachers
Growth trajectories of mathematics achievement: Longitudinal tracking of student academic progress
BackgroundA number of methods to investigate growth have been reported in the literature, including hierarchical linear modelling (HLM), latent growth modelling (LGM), and multidimensional scaling applied to longitudinal profile analysis (LPAMS).AimsThis study aimed at modelling the mathematics growth of students over a span of 6 years from Grade 3 to Grade 9.SampleThe sample comprised secondary longitudinal data collected in three waves from n =…
Personal best ( PB ) goal structure, individual PB goals, engagement, and achievement: A study of C hinese‐ and E nglish‐speaking background students in A ustralian schools
BACKGROUND: Prior cross-cultural research with students in different national contexts (Australia and China) has shown consistency in the extent to which individual personal best (PB) goals are associated with engagement at school. AIMS: This study extends this work to a multicultural context, assessing perceived PB goal structure in school and individual PB goals among Chinese- and English-speaking background Australian high school students atte…
Psychology (37 works) · Social Psychology (29 works) · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness (19 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports (15 works) · Developmental psychology (13 works) · Mathematics (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Social Psychology (12 works) · Mathematics education (10 works)