Studies the effects of the Protestant work ethic and performance feedback on intrinsic motivation in a sample of Taiwanese university students. Divides subjects into three groups according to work ethic measurement: high, intermediate, and low. Suggests students with a low work ethic exert more effort when challenged. (NL)

A qualitative study investigated the role of motivation in academic achievement by gifted secondary students in five Australian schools. Results found that "personal pleasure in achievement and long-term goals" was the most significant motivational factor, positive links with a teacher was a high occurrence factor, and competitive…

Self-discrepancy (SD) theories and self-enhancement (SE) theories have focused primarily on people's motivations to seek either self-consistent or self-enhancing feedback. The two sets of theories, however, also suggest different reactions to the feedback people receive from others. SE theories suggest that people react negatively to evaluations…

This study examined how activity and engagement qualities were related to stress. Experience sampling using e-mail pagers collected simultaneous ratings of stress and qualities of activity for 30 college women during 14 days. Surveys included narrative questions about activity types, feelings, and experience and Likert-type scales rating activity…

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…

This 6-year study examined how metacognitive strategies could enhance learning achievement and whether the use of individual learning contracts could enhance an individual's ability to become a conscientious learner. The criteria included whether students would learn by planning, controlling, monitoring learning processes, and using study skills.…

In 1990, a study was conducted to investigate the relationship between students' locus of control and the extent to which they participated in a voluntary exercise program. First-time participants in the "Shape Up" program offered at the Porterville College Fitness Center during the summer and fall semesters of 1990 were identified through the…

Maintaining an intrinsic motivation for school work is considered to be an important element in keeping adolescents in school and out of trouble. Recent research has begun to study factors that contribute to the development of an intrinsic interest in school learning. Two such important factors are self-esteem and the stressfulness of the school…

This study examined the effects of specific motivational dimensions and self-perceptions of a group of 47 urban black fourth and fifth grade students on attendance and academic achievement. Each student's responses to a measure of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and a self-perception inventory were compared to each other and to his or her…

Limited literature exists describing the melding of philosophies aimed at increasing men's use of mental health counseling services. Members of the mental health counseling profession will benefit from collaborating with other health care professional to conceptualize alternative means to encourage men to use mental health counseling services.…

This report describes a plan for using the multiple intelligences to increase student motivation. The target population consisted of a sixth grade reading class in a rural setting, and second, fourth, and fifth grade students in a pullout ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) program in an urban setting. The lack of motivation became evident as…

This paper investigates the joint effects of intrinsic and extrinsic goals on college students' learning in an introductory psychology course, a biology course, and several social science courses. The study questioned whether higher levels of motivation lead to better student performance. College students were surveyed using the Intrinsic Goal…

The performance of 25 children with Down syndrome (DS) on delay of gratification tasks was compared with that of mental age-matched typically developing children. DS children were significantly less able to delay gratification on two of the three tasks. Results raise questions about using mental age as the method for matching children with DS and…

Examines the role of motivation in substance abusers' acceptance of treatment and its relation to treatment outcomes. Better motivation was consistently associated with severity of substance use. Motivation was not related to alcohol and drug use severity six months later. Severity associated with motivation at entry was not related to clients'…

Established the psychometric properties of the Self-Motivation Inventory for Children (SMI-C) using tests of factorial validity, factorial invariance, latent mean structure, and predictive validity. Two cohorts of black and white adolescent girls completed the SMI-C and various physical activity measures. The single-factor, positively worded,…