A scale was developed to assess several types of motivation in elementary school children. In addition to the usually recognized internal and external motivation, a third type, termed "amotivation," has been postulated. Students are amotivated when they do not perceive a link between outcomes and their own actions. The preliminary…

The possibility of gender-related differences in student motivation throughout their schooling was investigated in this study. Subjects were 538 elementary-school students, 1,519 high-school students, and 2,434 junior-college students from the Montreal (Quebec, Canada) area. The Adolescents Academic Motivation Scale was administered to assess…

This paper reports on research to examine the types of motivation related to school achievement. A total of 1428 students from an inner city high school in the Montreal (Quebec) area participated in the study, 714 males and 714 females. The students ranged in age from 12 to 18, and approximately 40 percent were minorities (Hispanic, Asian, Black).…

A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of gender, and gender combined with other variables on within-term changes in junior college student motivation. Intrinsic motivation (IM) refers to doing an activity for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from participating. Extrinsic motivation (EM) refers to engaging in behaviors as a…