Intrinsic and Extrinsic Academic Motivation Scale for Schoolchildren

Abstract

The paper focuses on the development of the questionnaire Scales of Academic Motivation in School-Age Children based on the Academic motivation questionnaire for university students previously developed by T.Gordeeva, O.Sychev and E.Osin.The theoretical foundation of this questionnaire is the self-determination theory and its subtheory of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.Confirmatory factor analysis proved the 8-scale structure of the questionnaire defining three closely related types of intrinsic motivation (learning, achievement and self-development motivation), four typical types of extrinsic motivation in learning activity (self-respect motivation, introjected motivation, two types of external motivation), and amotivation.All scales demonstrate acceptable reliability (0,72 < α < 0,90) and expected correlations with indicators of persistence in learning, subjective well-being and academic achievement.Basing on the revealed gender differences in motivation the paper presents normative data both for adolescent girls and boys. This research was carried out with the support of state subsidies allocated to the National Research University Higher School of Economics within the programme of state support of Russia’s leading universities in order to enhance their competitiveness among major global scientific and educational centers.