Tamotsu Nishida

Achievement Motivation for Learning in Physical Education Class: A Cross-Cultural Study in Four Countries

This study was designed to compare the strength of achievement motivation for learning in physical education among 6,835 junior and high school pupils in Japan, 908 in the United States of America, 686 in Canada, and 698 in England. The Achievement Motivation in Physical Education Test developed by Nishida was administered to assess achievement motivation for learning in physical education. In comparison with the pupils of the other three countries, Japanese pupils showed lower scores on the positive aspects of achievement motivation for learning in physical education or tendency to achieve success, and they were higher on the negative aspects of achievement motivation or tendency to avoid failure. These results could be attributed to such cultural factors as orientation toward affiliation, enjoyment of taking part in some groups, and tendency to establish or maintain positive affective relations with other persons, which the Japanese pupils would traditionally express.

Cross-cultural Comparison of Motivation to Learn in Physical Education : Japanese vs Swedish Schoolchildren

The present study compared differences between Japanese and Swedish schoolchildren in learning motivation-related variables in physical education. The subjects were 1,562 Japanese fifth and sixth graders (776 boys and 786 girls) ranging in age from 10 to 12 years and 573 Swedish fifth graders (306 boys and 267 girls) from 10 to 13 years (M = 11.4, SD = 0.5). They completed three questionnaires to evaluate the childrens learning motivation, factors supporting motivation to learn, and preferences of learning behavior. The questionnaires were taken from Nishidas Diagnosis of Learning Motivation in Physical Education Test, a multidimensional and comprehensive test that measures learning motivation. A 2 times 2 (country by sex) multivariate analysis of variance indicated both Swedish boys and girls scored significantly higher than the Japanese children on most subscales. Results were discussed in relation to differences in the sports environment and culture of the two countries.

Function of Achievement Motivation in Learning Rotary Pursuit Tracking

To examine the effectiveness of achievement motivation on motor skill learning, 15 high and 15 low need-achievers as selected by the Mehrabian scale performed rotary pursuit tracking. The high need-achievers showed significantly higher scores on the time on target and relatively higher scores on the goal discrepancy and heart rate in trials of the task than the low need-achievers. It was concluded that the high need-achievers showed greater learning of the motor skill than the low need-achievers.