The short-and long-term, and direct and indirect, relations between cognitively stimulating home environment and academic intrinsic motivation were investigated in a longitudinal study from childhood through early adolescence. Structural equations modeling was used to test the hypothesis that home environment positively predicts academic intrinsic motivation over this period. It was also hypothesized that home environmental processes would positively predict motivation controlling for socioeconomic status (SES). When children were age 8, home environment (comprising both direct observations and parent report) and SES were measured. Academic intrinsic motivation was assessed at ages 9,10, and 13. Results supported the hypotheses. Home environment had statistically positive and significant, direct and indirect paths to academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through early adolescence, indicating both short-and long-term effects across these ages. Moreover, home environment was significant above and beyond SES. The findings revealed that children whose homes had a greater emphasis on learning opportunities and activities were more academically intrinsically motivated.
INTRODUCTIONIntrinsic motivation concerns the performance of activities for their own sake in which pleasure is inherent in the activity itself (Berlyne, 1965;Deci, 1975). Academic intrinsic motivation pertains to enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery orientation, curiosity, persistence, task endogeny, and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks (A. E. Gottfried, 1985). Academic intrinsic motivation has been shown to be a reliable and valid construct that is related to children's school functioning. From the elementary through the junior high school years, academic intrinsic motivation has been shown to be positively and significantly related to students' achievement and perception of their academic competence, and inversely related to their academic anxiety (A. E. Gottfried, 1985(A. E. Gottfried, , 1986a(A. E. Gottfried, , 1990. Moreover, longitudinal studies of academic intrinsic motivation have shown continuity of the construct over time during childhood and early adolescence (A. E. Gottfried, 1990; A. E. Gottfried, Fleming, & A. W. Gottfried, 1994;A. E. Gottfried & A. W. Gottfried, 1996). The present study focuses on the role of home environment, specifically, cognitively stimulating home environment, in the development of academic intrinsic motivation in a longitudinal study from childhood through early adolescence. Due to the importance of academic intrinsic motivation for children's school performance, it is essential to identify factors that are significant for the development of this motivation.Cognitive stimulation in the home was the environmental domain examined in this research because of its conceptual relevance to academic intrinsic motivation. By definition, academic intrinsic motivation concerns pleasure inherent in school learning. Availability of cognitive stimulation in the home, conceptualize...