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ERIC Number: EJ1358478
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Jan
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-6283
EISSN: EISSN-1532-8023
Available Date: N/A
Motivation toward Choosing Psychology as a Secondary School Subject: A Cross-Cultural Comparison
Teaching of Psychology, v50 n1 p41-46 Jan 2023
Background: During the past two decades, psychology has become a favorite school subject in many countries. This situation has led to studies on students' attitudes and perceptions of psychology as a secondary school subject. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare motives for choosing psychology as a school subject among secondary school students (15-19 years of age) from England and Slovakia. Method: In this study, we administered an online questionnaire to gather data about motivation toward studying psychology among secondary students in England (n = 150) and Slovakia (n = 210). Results: For both groups, the most frequent motives and beliefs influencing the choice of psychology were self-understanding and understanding behaviors of others. However, significant cross-cultural differences in other motives emerged (e.g., the perception of difficulty of psychology as a school subject). Conclusion: Students, regardless the cultural context, choose psychology mostly to understand how the human mind works and to understand human behavior to help people. Teaching Implications: Pre-tertiary psychology teachers therefore need to accept a challenge to fulfill students' expectations and to raise awareness of pre-tertiary students' perceptions and beliefs about psychology among decision makers on national and international levels.
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2993
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom (England); Slovakia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A