Future goal setting, task motivation and learning of minority and non-minority students in Dutch schools

Bibliographic Data

ID5263307
AuthorsIris Andriessen (0000-0002-1135-2621, Utrecht University, corresponding author), Karen Phalet (0000-0002-6035-1705, Utrecht University), Willy Lens (0000-0001-6214-354X, KU Leuven)
Year2006
Volume76
Issue4
Pages827-850
Publication date2006-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Educational Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-0998 • E-ISSN: 2044-8279
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1348/000709906x148150
PMID17094888
OpenAlexW2138971949
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited47

Background. Cross-cultural research on minority school achievement yields mixed findings on the motivational impact of future goal setting for students from disadvantaged minority groups. Relevant and recent motivational research, integrating Future Time Perspective Theory with Self-Determination Theory, has not yet been validated among minority students.Aims. To replicate across cultures the known motivational benefits of perceived instrumentality and internal regulation by distant future goals; to clarify when and how the future motivates minority students' educational performance.Sample. Participants in this study were 279 minority students (100 of Turkish and 179 of Moroccan origin) and 229 native Dutch students in Dutch secondary schools.Methods. Participants rated the importance of future goals, their perceptions of instrumentality, their task motivation and learning strategies. Dependent measures and their functional relations with future goal setting were simultaneously validated across minority and non-minority students, using structural equation modelling in multiple groups.Results. As expected, Positive Perceived Instrumentality for the future increases task motivation and (indirectly) adaptive learning of both minority and non-minority students. But especially internally regulating future goals are strongly related to more task motivation and indirectly to more adaptive learning strategies.Conclusion. Our findings throw new light on the role of future goal setting in minority school careers: distant future goals enhance minority and non-minority students' motivation and learning, if students perceive positive instrumentality and if their schoolwork is internally regulated by future goals

Academic achievement · Developmental psychology · Disadvantaged · Goal Orientation · Goal setting · Goal theory · Intrinsic motivation · Mathematics education · Need for achievement · Perception · Self-determination theory · Task (project management) · Turkish · Applied Psychology · Early Childhood Education and Development · Education in Diverse Contexts · Education, Achievement, and Giftedness · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology · Social Psychology · Teacher Professional Development and Motivation

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