Integrative and Theoretical Reviews of Achievement Motivation for School Psychologists: Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

A theoretically grounded understanding of achievement motivation appears to be largely overlooked in both initial education programs and ongoing professional development of school psychologists. This is unfortunate because motivation constructs such as perceived control, value, and self-beliefs predict students’ academic performance in a way that complements the variance explained by intelligence tests. This empirical evidence is rooted in long-standing theorizing that motivation constructs hold an important role alongside cognitive constructs in understanding student learning. Moreover, because motivation constructs are viewed as malleable, they provide an untapped source of intervention for school psychologists in supporting students. For these reasons, this special issue presents five review articles that integrate discrete theories of achievement motivation to the practice of school psychology. Largely representing Canadian expertise, the articles describe the potential for the control-value theory of emotions, achievement goal theory, mindset theory, self-determination theory, and self-regulated learning in the work of school psychologists. The final commentary article explicates a whole-child framework to highlight the role motivation can hold alongside cognition and guide school psychologists to partner these constructs for the betterment of children.

The influence of achievement motivation on college students’ employability: A chain mediation analysis of self-efficacy and academic performance

“…Many researchers have found that students’ achievement motivation is closely and positively correlated with academic performance ( She et al, 2019 ; Gamazo and Martínez-Abad, 2020 ). Various constructs of motivation such as perceived control, values, and self-perception can be used as a supplement to intelligence tests to positively predict the academic performance ( Daniels and Dueck, 2022 ). Achievement motivation of students influences their psychological and behavioral characteristics such as hope of success, coping with failure, persistence in adversity, and willingness to take more challenging courses ( Yeager et al, 2019 ; Kapasi and Pei, 2022 ), which ultimately have an impact on their academic performance.…”