ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION IN FIVE GROUPS OF FIRST GRADERS IN SOUTH TAIWAN
Abstract
This study investigated the effectiveness of "Animal Crackers: A Test of Motivation to Achieve," and, furthermore, examined the relationship between the selected variables and motivation to achieve. The subjects were 300 first graders divided into five groups of 30 males and 30 females in each. Four of the five groups, representative of four different paternal occupations, were selected from the plains area. The fifth group was sampled from several aboriginal tribes to contrast with the plains-area group. "Animal Crackers" was administered and an "Teacher School-Motivated Behavior Rating Scale" was used. The selected variables included gender, age, number of siblings, size of family, and level of parental education. Statistical techniques employed included item analysis, point-biserial r, KR-20 formula, factor analysis, t test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson product-moment correlations and multiple regression. The analysis of the data obtained provided the following findings. (1) The subjects responses to "Animal Crackers" were found to be substantially supportive of the effective use of the instrument with Chinese children and of the theoretical constructs that underlie the instrument. (2) No significant difference was found in the mean scores obtained from "Animal Crackers" between the four plains area groups; however, significant differences were found in the mean scores between the contrasting groups: high and low motivated children (p < .01), the plains-area children and the aboriginal children (p < .01), and children with kindergarten experience and children with no kindergarten experience (p < .01). (3) There was no significant difference between the mean scores of the boys and girls, which indicates no influence of gender on motivation to achieve in this sample at this age level. (4) The only significant relationship of the selected variables to the achievement motive was found between school achievement and the "Teacher School-Motivated Behavior Rating Scale" scores; no significant relationship was found between the other variables and motivation to achieve. (5) The relative contribution of school achievement and the "Teacher School-Motivated Behavior Rating Scale" score to the predicted variance of the criterion score was .30 (F = 63.67, p < .01). In other words, 30% of the total variance of the criterion was predicted by school achievement and the "Teacher School-Motivated Behavior Rating Scale" score.
Subject Area
Educational psychology
Recommended Citation
CHANG, CHIU-HSIUNG, "ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION IN FIVE GROUPS OF FIRST GRADERS IN SOUTH TAIWAN" (1984). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8423119.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8423119
