Abstract
BackgroundThere has been an increasing interest in negative or ‘undermining’ motivations for reading. In this study, we aimed to strengthen knowledge on the validity of the distinction between affirming and undermining motivations. First, we examined whether the structure of a questionnaire based on this distinction could be confirmed. Second, we examined the predictive value of undermining motivations for reading comprehension. Third, we studied moderator effects of gender and age.MethodsWe administered a reading motivation questionnaire and a reading comprehension test to 324 low‐achieving adolescents. The questionnaire included items on affirming and undermining motivations for school and leisure time reading: intrinsic motivation and avoidance, self‐efficacy and perceived difficulty.ResultsConfirmatory factor analyses supported the assumed structure of the questionnaire. Undermining motivations, particularly perceived difficulty, explained unique variance in reading achievement. Gender and age did not moderate effects of motivational variables.ConclusionsEducators need to be aware of the role of undermining motivations. Future research should examine if interventions can lead to the reduction of such motivations.
Highlights
There has been an increasing interest in negative or ‘undermining’ motivations for reading
This first of all led to two changes in factor membership
According to the modification index, the item ‘Texts I read in my free time make me think’ should be assigned to ‘perceived difficulty of leisure time reading’, but the item was intended to signify intrinsic motivation
Summary
There has been an increasing interest in negative or ‘undermining’ motivations for reading. We aimed to strengthen knowledge on the validity of the distinction between affirming and undermining motivations. We examined whether the structure of a questionnaire based on this distinction could be confirmed. We examined the predictive value of undermining motivations for reading comprehension. We studied moderator effects of gender and age. Methods: We administered a reading motivation questionnaire and a reading comprehension test to 324 low-achieving adolescents. The questionnaire included items on affirming and undermining motivations for school and leisure time reading: intrinsic motivation and avoidance, self-efficacy and perceived difficulty. Undermining motivations, perceived difficulty, explained unique variance in reading achievement. Gender and age did not moderate effects of motivational variables. Future research should examine if interventions can lead to the reduction of such motivations
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