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ABSTRACT: Accession Number: 2012-04635-001. Publication Status: Online First Posting. First Author & Affiliation: Gottschling, Juliana. Release Date: 20120227. Publication Type: Journal, (0100); Peer Reviewed Journal, (0110); . Media Covered: Electronic. Language: English. Major Descriptor: No terms assigned. Classification: Personality Psychology (3100)
Personality and Individual Differences 02/2012; · 1.88 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: This study investigates the roles of intelligence and school-related motivation in sex differences in school achievement and whether there are sex differences in the genetic and environmental influences on these variables. In a sample of 4464 9-year-old twins, intelligence, ablility self-perceptions, intrinsic values and achievement scores were assessed. Girls outperformed boys in English and had better corresponding ability self-perceptions, whereas in Math boys showed better attainment and ability self-perceptions. For both sexes and all three domains, intelligence was the strongest predictor of achievement and ability self-perceptions added incrementally to the prediction. Evidence of genetic influences was found for all measures but shared environmental influences were not important. These findings challenge some widely held assumptions about the development of children's motivation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
European Journal of Personality 04/2008; 22(3):211 - 229. · 2.44 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Aufbauend auf der Erkenntnis, dass Motivation eine wichtige Determinante schulischer Leistungen darstellt, untersucht die vorliegende Studie die Rolle genetischer Anlagen für die Ausprägung der schulbezogenen Motivation. Im Fokus stehen dabei die domänen-spezifischen Konstrukte Fähigkeitsselbstkonzept und intrinsische Motivation. Den Analysen lag eine Stichprobe von N = 814 deutschen Grundschülern im Alter zwischen sieben und elf Jahren zugrunde, die an der Saarbrücker Zwillingsstudie zu Einflüssen von kognitiven Fähigkeiten und selbst eingeschätzter Motivation auf Schulerfolg (KoSMoS; Spinath & Wolf, 2006) teilnahmen. Univariate verhaltensgenetische Analysen sprechen für bedeutsame genetische (a2) und nicht-geteilte Umwelteffekte (e2) auf alle erhobenen Motivationsvariablen (im Mittel a2 = .49; e2 = .51). Es wird diskutiert, welche Implikationen der Nachweis der Erblichkeit motivationaler Größen für die pädagogisch-psychologische Forschung und Praxis hat.
Building on our knowledge that motivation is an important determinant of school achievement, the present study examines the role of genetics for individual differences in motivational characteristics. We focus on the domain-specific motivational constructs ability self-perception and intrinsic value. The analyses are based on a sample of N = 814 seven to eleven-year-old German elementary school children who took part in the Saarbruecken twin study on Cognitive ability, Self-reported Motivation and School performance (CoSMoS; Spinath & Wolf, 2006). Univariate model-fit analyses provided evidence for significant genetic (a2) and non-shared environmental (e2) effects on all motivational variables (a² = .49; e² = .51). It is discussed how the finding that motivation is heritable should affect psychological and educational research and practices.
Unterrichtswissenschaft. 01/2008; 36:3-16.
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ABSTRACT: Accession Number: 2004-18378-004. First Author & Affiliation: Spinath, Birgit; Universität Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany. Translated Title: Behavior Observations in Dyadic Interactions: The German Version of the Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort (RBQ-D).. Other Journal Titles: Journal of Individual Differences. Other Publishers: Hogrefe Publishing. Release Date: 20041012. Correction Date: 20111226. Publication Type: Journal, (0100); Peer Reviewed Journal, (0110); . Media Covered: Print. Document Type: Journal Article. Language: German. Major Descriptor: Dyads; Foreign Language Translation; Observation Methods; Social Interaction; Test Validity. Minor Descriptor: Psychometrics; Social Behavior; Test Reliability. Classification: Personality Scales & Inventories (2223) Personality Traits & Processes (3120) . Population: Human (10); . Tests & Measures: Riverside Behavioral Q-Sort; . Methodology: Empirical Study; Quantitative Study. References Available: Y.. Page Count: 11.. Issue Publication Date: 2
Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie 01/2004; 25(2):105-115.
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Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie 01/2004; 25(2):105-115.
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ABSTRACT: Accession Number: 2003-07850-017. First Author & Affiliation: Spinath, Birgit; Dept of Psychology, U Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany. Release Date: 20030929. Publication Type: Journal, (0100); Peer Reviewed Journal, (0110); . Media Covered: Print. Document Type: Journal Article. Language: English. Major Descriptor: Intelligence; Personality Theory; Personality Traits. Minor Descriptor: Achievement Motivation. Classification: Personality Psychology (3100) . Population: Human (10); Male (30); Female (40); . Location: Germany. Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older) (300) Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs) (320) Thirties (30-39 yrs) (340) Middle Age (40-64 yrs) (360) Aged (65 yrs & older) (380) . Tests & Measures: NEO Personality Inventory-Revised; Raven Progressive Matrices; . Methodology: Empirical Study. References Available: Y.. Page Count: 13.. Issue Publication Date: Sep, 2003
Personality and Individual Differences 09/2003; 35(4):939-951. · 1.88 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The present study examined the importance of different sources of information for the development of children's self-perceptions of early school-related ability. In a sample of German elementary school children (N = 595) it was demonstrated that the associations between pupils’ ability self-perceptions on the one hand and parents’ perception of their children's ability, pupils’ intelligence and teacher-rated school achievement on the other increased throughout elementary school. In a second step, commonality analyses were employed in two subsamples (N = 416 and N = 145) to partition variance in children's self-perceptions that was specifically explained by either teacher-rated school achievement or parents’ perceptions, or by both variables. The results support the assumption that the importance of teacher evaluations for children's ability self-perceptions increases while the importance of parents’ perceptions decreases during the early school years.
Cognitive Development.
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ABSTRACT: The present study examined the extent to which motivation contributes to the prediction of school achievement among elementary school children beyond general mental ability (g). The sample consisted of N = 1678 nine-year-old UK elementary school children who took part in the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS). Teachers provided achievement assessments according to the UK National Curriculum criteria for Mathematics, English, and Science, and pupils reported their ability self-perceptions and intrinsic values for these subjects. For all three domains, g proved to be the strongest, and, in the case of Science, the only predictor of school achievement. However, in Mathematics and English, children's ability self-perceptions as well as intrinsic values each contributed incrementally to the prediction of achievement beyond g, with ability self-perceptions being a better predictor than intrinsic values. Finally, commonality analyses revealed a substantial portion of common variance in school achievement explained both by g and motivation. In the light of these results it is argued that the study of motivation offers valuable clues for the understanding and improvement of school achievement.
Intelligence.
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ABSTRACT: The present study examined the link between general school-related learning motivation and competence beliefs in elementary school children. In a cross-sequential design, the populations of four German elementary schools (total N = 789) were examined over a two-year period. Children completed self-report questionnaires every six months. Absolute (i.e. mean-level) and relative (i.e. correlational) changes in both variables were examined longitudinally. The results show that learning motivation and competence beliefs decreased over the elementary school years. Children's competence beliefs were moderately to strongly associated with their learning motivation. No evidence for causal determination of learning motivation through ability perception or vice versa was found at any point in time. Results are discussed with regard to practical consequences for teachers and researchers.
Learning and Instruction.
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ABSTRACT: The prediction is tested that performance goals only entail poor achievement outcomes in individuals with a low self-concept of ability (American Psychologist, 41 (1986) 1040; Psychological Review, 95 (1988) 256). In agreement with Dweck, in three experimental studies participants with performance goals showed impaired performance only when their self-perceived ability was low. Contradictory to Dweck’s predictions, in study 2 this was true although participants were not confronted with failure feedback. Finally, study 3 indicated that individuals with low self-perceived ability considered their performance more often as failures when directed towards performance goals. The consideration of self-perceived ability might clarify and help resolve contradicting research findings about effects of motivational orientation on achievement.
Learning and Instruction.
