Teresa K. DeBacker

Achievement Motivation in Adolescents: The Role of Peer Climate and Best Friends

Using M. L. Maehrs (1984) theory of personal investment, the authors investigated associations among perceived peer relationships and achievement motivation during science class. Middle school and high school students (N = 253) completed a self-report questionnaire assessing peer classroom climate, achievement-related beliefs and values of a best friend, achievement goals, social goals, and self-efficacy. Regression analyses indicated that perceived peer relationship variables explained variance in achievement motivation. Adolescents who perceived being valued and respected by classmates were more likely to report adaptive achievement motivation. Reports of adaptive achievement motivation were also related to having a good quality friendship and a best friend who values academics. Having a poor quality friendship and perceiving classmates to be resistant to school norms were related to reports of maladaptive achievement motivation.

Motivation to learn science : Differences related to gender, class type, and ability

Abstract Motivation differences of gender, science class type (biological vs. physical), and ability level of 242 high school students were investigated. High achievers and physical science students had higher scores than did low achievers and biological science students on academic goals, valuing science, and perceived ability. Boys had higher scores than did girls on perceived ability and stereotyped views of science. For only a subset of variables, these main effects were moderated by class type using achievement-level interaction. The class type main effect was moderated by gender in only one instance. Gender did not interact with achievement level for any variable. Instructional implications are discussed.

The Challenge of Measuring Epistemic Beliefs: An Analysis of Three Self-Report Instruments.

Epistemic beliefs are notoriously difficult to measure with self-report instruments. In this study, the authors used large samples to assess the factor structure and internal consistency of 3 self-report measures of domain-general epistemic beliefs to draw conclusions about the trustworthiness of findings reported in the literature. College students completed the Epistemological Questionnaire (EQ; M. Schommer, 1990; N = 935); the Epistemic Beliefs Inventory (EBI; G. Schraw, L. D. Bendixen, & M. E. Dunkle, 2002; N = 795); and the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS; P. Wood & C. Kardash, 2002; N = 795). Exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and internal consistency estimates indicated psychometric problems with each of the 3 instruments. The authors discuss challenges in conceptualizing and measuring personal epistemology.

Predicting Preservice Teachers' Cognitive Engagement With Goals and Epistemological Beliefs

The authors examined relationships among achievement goals, epistemological beliefs, cognitive engagement, and application learning of 101 preservice teachers. The authors used an 84-item survey to measure achievement goals (learning and performance), epistemological beliefs (innate ability, certain knowledge, simple knowledge, quick learning, and omniscient authority), and cognitive engagement (meaningful and shallow). Also included was a measure of application learning that was based on an actual course test. Regression analyses showed that goals and beliefs were important for predicting meaningful and shallow cognitive engagement. The only statistically significant predictor of application learning was shallow cognitive engagement with a negative relationship.

Predicting the Academic Motivation of Rural High School Students

The authors investigated predictive relationships among student characteristics that influence motivation for learning and achievement. Participants were students (N = 900) from all 4 grade levels in 18 rural public high schools in the south-western United States. The authors used AMOS 4.0 (J. L. Arbuckle & W. Wothke, 1996) to test a hypothesized path model in development and validation subsamples. Variables included perceptions of classroom climate, perceived ability, perceived instrumentality of instruction, and achievement goals as predictors of engagement and effort in school. The model fit the data reasonably well, with relatively minor variations in the strength of the paths between subsamples. The authors discuss implications for research and classroom practice.

The Role of Authoritarianism, Perceived Threat, and Need for Closure or Structure in Predicting Post-9/11 Attitudes and Beliefs

The authors examined relationships among authoritarianism, personal need for closure or structure, perceived threat, and post-9/11 attitudes and beliefs. Participants were 159 undergraduate students in the Southeastern United States. The authors collected data 1 week before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation were significant predictors of support for restricting human rights during the U.S.-led War on Terror, support for U.S. President George W. Bush, and support for U.S. military involvement in Iraq. Right-wing authoritarianism and perceived threat emerged as the strongest predictors of the belief that Saddam Hussein supported terrorism.

Belief, motivational, and ideological correlates of human rights attitudes.

Many people believe that an informed and thoughtful citizenry is essential to the maintenance of democratic ideals within the United States and the spread of those ideals abroad. Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the evidence that Americans consider issues of human dignity and rights when making judgments about the U.S. governments war on terror has been mixed. In our study, we assessed the relative contributions of ideological, belief, and cognitive—motivational factors to the prediction of human rights and civil liberties attitudes. Individuals scoring high on measures of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and the belief that the structure of knowledge is simple were the most likely to support restrictions on human rights and civil liberties as part of the war on terror. In a subsequent regression analysis, individuals scoring higher on personal need for structure or exhibiting lower levels of epistemological belief complexity tended to score higher on RWA. Additionally, men were generally more likely to support restrictions on rights and liberties and to score higher on RWA than were women.

Are DIT scores empirically distinct from measures of political identification and intellectual ability? A test using post-9/11 data

Emler, Renwick, and Malone (1983) argued against a developmental interpretation of the Defining Issues Test (DIT), suggesting instead that it actually measures a social psychological phenomenon – political identification. On the other hand, Sanders, Lubinski, and Benbow (1995) have argued that DIT scores measure intellectual ability. In this study, we pitted the DIT against measures of political identification and intellectual ability in order to test its ability to incrementally predict variation in post-9/11 attitudes. We found that both DIT-2 scores and political identification were significant predictors of attitudes toward restricting human rights/civil liberties, while our index of intellectual ability (i.e. ACT scores) was not. DIT-2 scores, political identification and intellectual ability each accounted for significant variation in attitudes toward President George W. Bush in our undergraduate college sample during the spring of 2004.

Need for Closure, Achievement Goals, and Cognitive Engagement in High School Students

ABSTRACT The authors extend their understanding of learner motivation by addressing questions around the construct of classroom need for closure in a high school sample. First, they established that their classroom need for closure measure demonstrated adequate psychometric properties when used with high school students. Subsequently, they explored relationships among classroom need for closure, achievement goals, and cognitive engagement using zero-order correlations and path analyses. Findings suggested that the 2 facets of classroom need for closure are relatively independent of each other, and that high levels of preference for certainty are more likely to be problematic for learners than high levels of preference for structure. Furthermore, the relationship between classroom need for closure and cognitive engagement is partially mediated by mastery goals. Implications for instruction are discussed.

The DOG Scale

Abstract. Since the 1960s Rokeachs conception and measurement of dogmatism has dominated the landscape of dogmatism research. In 1996, Altemeyer proposed a new conception of dogmatism, suggesting that it is best defined as an unchangeable and unjustified certainty in ones beliefs. This conception was operationalized in the form of the DOG Scale with validity evidence generally coming in the form of relationships between the measure and several criterion-related variables. The present study assessed the factorial validity of the measure and tested for convergent and discriminant validity. Criterion-related validity evidence was also reconsidered. The DOG Scale demonstrated reasonable factorial, discriminant, convergent, and criterion-related validity, providing additional support for the measures construct validity.