Person. indioid. 018 Vol. II. No. 7. pp. 705-710. 1990 Pnnted in Great Bnta~n. All rights reserved

0191~8869190 $3.00+0.00 Copyright C I990 Pergamon Press plc

ATTITUDINAL AND PERSONALITY CORRELATES OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AMONG

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

PATRICK C. L. HEAVEN

School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Charles Sturt University, P.O. Box 588. Wagga Wagga, N.S.W. 2650, Australia

(Received II October 1989)

Summary- The results of two studies investigating the relative importance of a range of personality and attitudinal variables as predictors of achievement motivation are reported. Respondents were Australian adolescents attending State and independent high schools. In both studies, achievement motivation was found to be significantly related to scores on Eysenck’s Lie scale. Partial correlations in Study 1 showed extraversion to be a significant correlate for both sexes, in addition to other attitudinal variables for females. Some of these findings were partially replicated in Study 2, while a significant negative correlation between impulsiveness and achievement motivation was also noted. These findings are briefly commented upon in the light of previous work on anti-social behaviour and arousal.

INTRODUCTION

It would appear that the need to achieve and the need for affiliation are central in any attempt to understand why some students attain higher academically than others. For instance, an important study by Schneider and Green (1977) demonstrated quite clearly the incompatibility of the affiliation and achievement drives. They showed that students who scored respectively high and low on need to achieve and need to affiliate measures tended to spend longer hours studying and, consequently, achieved higher grades. Those students who had both high achievement and high affiliation needs appeared confused about their academic values and this was manifest by their lower grades.

A large body of literature has evolved which has examined the link between achievement motivation and academic performance on the one hand and the correlates of achievement motivation on the other. As will be demonstrated below, studies which have looked at the personality correlates of achievement motivation have usually focussed on only one, sometimes two, independent variables. Moreover, with respect to variables such as extraversion and neuroticism, findings appear to be equivocal. Consequently, the present research will incorporate a wide range of independent variables and sample disparate groups of high school students.

With respect to the personality correlates of achievement motivation, an important study by Entwistle (1972) showed extraversion to be an important predictor variable of academic attainment among primary school students, while introversion appeared to be associated with academic success among tertiary students. He showed further that this relationship is complicated by the effects of students’ intellectual level, type of institution, and the subject being studied (see also Anthony, 1973; Seddon, 1977). In a later study by Paspalanov (1984) among Bulgarians, extraversion was shown to be related to achievement motivation for groups of high school students and skilled industrial workers, gifted and talented high school students, and eminent musicians and artists, although the correlation was stronger for the latter group. Moreover, the findings were equivocal with respect to females.

Other research has looked at the effect of levels of anxiety, low self-esteem, and locus of control on achievement motivation. In their study of 512 Indian adolescents, for instance, Jindal and Panda (1982) found a significant negative relationship between achievement motivation and anxiety. Interestingly, this relationship only held for males and could be attributed to different socialization patterns for young male and female Indians. On the other hand, Paspalanov (1984) in his Bulgarian study found some evidence of a positive significant relationship between anxiety and neuroticism and achievement motivation among groups of high school students and eminent musicians, but not among gifted and talented high school students.

705

706 PATRICK C. L. HEAVEN

With respect to locus of control, researchers (e.g. Prociuk & Breen, 1974; Fry & Coe, 1980) are agreed that internals attain higher academically than do externals. In addition, work by Fry and Coe (1980) in the U.S.A. has shown this relationship to be more complex among black than white students. They found that performance among black students varies “. . . depending upon whether they are co-operating with blacks or competing against whites” (p. 166). Internal blacks seemed to perform best when competing against a white or when collaborating with other black students.

Research aims

It appears that many of those variables suspected of being important correlates of achievement motivation have been investigated in isolation. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to determine the relative importance of a range of personality variables in explaining achievement motivation among adolescents. Secondly, it was thought appropriate to determine what, if any, sex differences exist. Third, although earlier American research (Gawronski & Mathis, 1965) has alluded to the fact that respect for authority, order, and tradition may be important in understanding levels of academic achievement, it would appear that the relationship between attitudes to institutional authority and achievement motivation has not yet been a central focus of more recent research.

The range of independent variables selected for this study, therefore, were: self-esteem, attitudes to institutional authority, extraversion, neuroticism, and locus of control. In addition, the Eysenckian measure of Psychoticism was also included.

STUDY 1

Method

Subjects

Undergraduate external psychology students, who received course credit for their assistance, were asked to distribute questionnaires to adolescents aged between 16 and 18 yr under the constraint that equal numbers of males and females were to be sampled. They were requested to sample as widely as possible in terms of socio-economic background.

Responses were received from 189 adolescents (97 females, 92 males; M age = 16.65 yr, SD = 0.87) distributed over a wide area of the state of New South Wales. More than 80% of respondents were attending State schools. Although it is not suggested that this sample is representative of Australian adolescents, it is considered to be sufficiently diverse for comparison purposes.

Instrument

Respondents were provided with a test booklet which contained the following measures:

(I) Achievement motivation scale (Ray, 1979). This is a balanced measure with demonstrated validity and reliability (see also Lindgren, Moritsch, Thulin & Mich, 1986). For the present study, some items were modified slightly to make them more suitable for school students (see Table 1).

(2) Attitudes to authority scale (Rigby, 1982). This measure determines attitudes to various institutional authorities (e.g. army, police, teachers, and the law). This scale, which is balanced, has known reliability and validity (Rigby, 1986). A sample item is “It is reasonable to say that as a rule teachers work in the best interests of their students”.

(3) Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Junior) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975). This well-known instrument provides scores on the major personality dimensions of extraversion-introversion, emotion stability-neuroticism, and psychoticism (or “toughmindedness”). It also contains a Lie scale to measure social desirability or dissimulation. Details of this instrument’s reliability and validity are provided in Eysenck and Eysenck (1975).

(4) Locus ofcontrol (Rotter, 1966). This gauges the extent to which individuals believe that they are in control of their own fate. The six items with the highest item-total correlations in the original were re-written in Likert format resulting in a 12-item balanced scale (see also Duckitt, 1984). The scale was scored in the external direction.

Achievement motivation 707

Table I. Items of achievement motivation scale (Rav. 1979)

Items

Item-total

SD correlation

I ‘Is being comfortable more important to you than

getting ahead?

2 *Are you satisfied to be no better than most

other people at School?

3 Do you take trouble to cultivate people who

may be useful to you at school?

4 Do you get restless and annoyed when you feel

you are wasting time?

5 Have you always worked hard in order to be among the

best at school? 6 Do you tend to plan ahead for your job or career?

7 Is “getting on in life” important to you?

8 Are you an ambitious person?

9 *Are you inclined to hear of the successes of others

rather than do the work of making yourself a success?

IO *Would you describe yourself as being lazy?

I I *Will days often go by without your having done

a thing?

I2 *Are you inclined to take life as it comes without

much planning?

1.93

2.29

1.82

2.48

1.88

2.61

2.65

2.59

2.38

2.26

2.07

2.07

0.82 0.43

0.84 0.44

0.83 0.05

0.81 0.08

0.88 0.34

0.67 0.38

0.64 0.32

0.64 0.53

0.72 0.46

0.79 0.29

0.94 0.32

0.91 0.47

Items scored 3 (Agree), 2 (Not sure), or I (Disagxe)

*Negative items.

(5) Self-esteem (Rosenberg, 1979). This IO-item measure is fully balanced and, in previous research, has been shown to be reliable (e.g. Heaven, 1987).

All items, barring those of the EPQ were scored 3 (Agree), 2 (Not sure) or 1 (Disagree). Negative items were reverse-scored.

Procedure

Respondents completed the questionnaire anonymously and in private. Attached to each questionnaire was a letter from the author explaining the nature of the study.

Results and Discussion

The reliability (Cronbach’s a coefficient) of the achievement motivation measure was 0.70. Table 1 presents the items of this scale together with item means and item-total correlations. The mean score of the males on this scale was 27.33 (SD = 4.43), whilst for females it was 26.75 (SD = 4.75). The difference between the mean scores was not significant, t(192) = 0.88.

Table 2 presents the correlations between achievement motivation and the other measures. These are presented for males and females separately. Among females, high achievement motivation was found to correlate significantly with positive attitudes to authority, internal locus on control, positive self-esteem and the Lie scale. Among males the significant correlates of high achievement motivation were positive attitudes to authority, extraversion, “tendermindedness”, positive self- esteem and scores on the Lie scale. Thus, among both sexes achievement motivation appeared subject to social desirability effects. For this reason, partial correlations controlling for scores on the Lie scale were computed. These are shown in parentheses in Table 2.

Among females extraversion, but not self-esteem, was found to correlate significantly with achievement motivation (r = 0.25, P c 0.05). The correlations with locus of control and attitudes to authority were only slightly changed. Among males, only extraversion correlated significantly with achievement motivation (r = 0.39, P < 0.01).

Table 2. Correlations between achievement motivation and other measures

Scales

I Attitudes to authority

2 Extraversion

3 Neuroticism

4 Psychoticism

5 Lie

6 Locus of control

7 Self-esteem

Females Males

(n = 97) (n = 92)

0.35.’ (0.30**) 0.28” (0.15)

0.19 (0.25’) 0.31” (0.390.)

-0.19 (-0.12) -0.07 (-0.01)

-0.16 (-0.08) -0.29’. (0.16)

0.27.. - 0.37” -

-0.42** (-0.36**) -0.01 (0.09)

0.229 (0.18) 0.21. (0.13)

Partial correlations in parentheses.

l f < 0.05; l *P < 0.01.

708 PATRICK C. L. HEAVEN

Table 3. Steu-wse multiule regression of achievement motivation for females

Variables

Locus of control Extraversion Attitudes to authority

Bela

-0.42 0.23 0.20

Multiple RZ R RI change F P

0.42 0. I8 0.18 21.11 0.01 0.48 0.23 0.05 14.40 0.01 0.51 0.26 0.03 Il.28 0.01

In order to determine the best predictors of achievement motivation among the females, a step-wise multiple regression analysis with achievement motivation as the dependent variable was computed. The independent variables were entered only if they had a significant F statistic at the 0.05 level with the order of inclusion being determined by the respective contribution of each variable to explained variance. The results are presented in Table 3. Internality, extraversion and attitudes to authority were entered into the regression equation. They explained 26% of the variance.

These results highlight the relative importance of extraversion in explaining achievement motivation among this sample of adolescents. This supports earlier research by such authors as Anthony (1973) Entwistle (1972) and Paspalanov (1984). That neuroticism did not correlate significantly with achievement motivation does not support the work of writers such as Paspalanov (1984). It is interesting that internal locus of control was a significant predictor of achievement motivation among females, but not among males. This suggests that females seem to need to believe that they are in charge of their life events in order to achieve. This would appear to support earlier evidence (e.g. Strickland & Haley, 1980) which suggests that women have been socialised in the external rather than the internal direction.

Of course, it is beyond the scope of this research to disentangle socialisation and genetic influences on achievement motivation. Although socialisation effects do seem a quite legitimate explanation of some findings reported here, Ellis (1986) has cautioned that sex differences might be attributable to hormonal effects. He states: “Social scientists in the future should avoid attributing sex differences in human behaviour to training and social expectations until they have first given careful attention to neurohormonal factors” (p. 537).

The results of the present study also point to the importance of considering the effects of social desirability or “faking good” on achievement motivation scores. When controlling for such influences, some of the significant correlations (e.g. with self esteem) disappeared. Future research in this area should therefore carefully consider possible social desirability effects on achievement motivation scores.

STUDY 2

One explanation for the correlation between extraversion and achievement motivation may lie in the dual nature of extraversion itself. Whereas earlier versions of the extraversion scale as found in the EPI consisted of both sociability and impulsivity items, the version used in this study consists only of sociability items (for reviews, see Eysenck & Eysenck, 1969; Campbell & Heller, 1987). Given that adolescents are, in the main, expected to be ‘sociable’-to get along with their peers- and to achieve at school, the findings reported in Study 1 are not unexpected. As impulsiveness and sociability have been shown to be significantly correlated (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1969), Study 2 was designed to investigate the importance of impulsiveness as a correlate of achievement motivation. As impulsiveness has been shown to be related to ‘maladjusted’ extraversion, it was hypothesised that impulsiveness and achievement motivation would be significantly negatively correlated.

Method

Subjects

Students attending an independent Christian high school in the city of Brisbane were requested to participate in a study of “Social attitudes”. Completed questionnaires were received from 64 males and 80 females. Median age was 16 yr.

Achievement motivation 709

Instrument

Respondents were provided with a test booklet which contained the following scales:

(1) The same achievement motivation and EPQ measures used in Study 1. (2) Impulsiveness scale (Eysenck, Easting & Pearson, 1984). This is a revised measure of the

original impulsiveness scale (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1977) more suitable for non-adult samples. Recent research in Australia (Heaven, 1989) has provided evidence of the scale’s multidimension- ality and reliability. Heaven identified two submeasures, namely, cognitive impulsiveness and impulsiveness narrowly defined (IMPn).

Procedure

Participation in the study was not compulsory. Students were tested during normal class hours under the supervision of a teacher. Students were later debriefed.

Results and Discussion

The correlations between personality and achievement motivation are presented in Table 4. On this occasion social desirability effects were observed among the female respondents only. Partial correlations controlling for scores on the Lie scale are presented in parenthesis in Table 4. For both sexes, achievement motivation was significantly negatively related to cognitive impulsiveness and low scores on the P scale. Among females IMPn was significantly negatively related to achievement motivation, while among males achievement motivation was significantly related to extraversion and emotional stability.

The hypothesis that impulsiveness would be significantly negatively related to achievement motivation was only partially supported; the relationship between achievement motivation and IMPn failing to reach significance among the males. Moreover, the results -with respect to extraversion and neuroticism did not support the findings of Study 1, although the observed sex differences are in line with the findings of Paspalanov (1984).

GENERAL DISCUSSION

The findings reported here support previous studies (e.g. Paspalanov, 1984) in that achievement motivation is differentially related to personality dimensions such as extraversion, neuroticism, and impulsiveness, although the nature of the sample (in this case students from State schools vs independent schools) appears to mediate the relationship. Whether these differences are real or whether they reflect sampling error must await further research. Nonetheless, it is worth noting that other attitudinal differences between students from State and independent schools in Australia have been noted (e.g. Feather, 1983).

Finally, the present results have shown that impulsiveness, psychoticism and ‘sociability’ are important correlates of achievement motivation for these samples. That psychoticism was found to be negatively related to achievement motivation is in line with previously established patterns of research findings. In this regard, Heaven (1990) recently commented that psychoticism appears to be the ‘linchpin’ which explains some maladaptive behaviours among adolescents.

The findings with respect to impulsiveness make intuitive sense and also support previous work (e.g. Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). In their study the Eysencks reported significant associations between impulsiveness, sensation-seeking, anti-social behaviour, and arousal. Laboratory research

Table 4. Correlations between ocrsonalitv and achievement motivation

SCdCS

I Cognitive impulsiveness 2 IMPn 3 Extraversion 4 Neuroticism 5 Lie 6 Psvchoticism

(n =64) (n = 80)

-0.27. -0.29”. (-0.26**) -0.22 -0.22. (-0.22.)

0.32.. -0.14 (-0.13) -0.26. 0.03 (0.12)

0.11 -0.23’ -0.49.. -0.26. (-;6*)

Partial correlations in parentheses. ‘P < 0.05; l *p < 0.01.

710 PATRICK C. L. HEAVEN

suggests that impulsiveness has an important mediating effect on the relationship between extraversion, introversion, and performance. while it also is now clear that time of day is involved (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985). It might be that a similar mediating effect of impulsiveness and time of day applies just ,as well to achievement motivation in general and academic performance in particular. This appears to be an avenue for future research.

Acknowledgemenr-I am grateful to Max Wilkinson who assisted with data collection for Study 2.

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