An Analysis of Achievement Motivation between Indian and Tibetan Youth: A study of Mussoorie

Abstract

Around thousand families of Tibetans are settled in Mussoorie, they started coming to India after the rebellion of 1959 in Tibet and subsequently the Central Tibetan Administration of the 14th Dalai Lama was for the first time got established in Mussorie, later it was moved to Dharamsala. The hills of Mussoorie are home to a happy mix of Indian and Tibetan students. The aim of this study was to see if there was a difference in achievement motivation between Indian and Tibetan students. With an average age of 17.2 years, this study comprised of 93 Indian and 179 Tibetan students that were randomly selected from Central School for Tibetans, Mussoorie. The Shah (1986) Achievement Motivation Scale was used to collect the data. The Achievement Motivation Scale is made up of 40 elements that are divided into four categories: (a) Academic Success, (b) Vocational Achievement, (c) Social Achievement, and (d) Ability Achievement. The findings of the study show that Indian students outperformed Tibetan students in terms of “Need for Academic Achievement.” Whereas on the “Need for Vocational Achievement,” no difference was found between Indian and Tibetan students. Between Indian and Tibetan students, there was a significant difference in the “Need for Social Achievement” and the “Need for Ability Achievement”. In the categories of “Need for Academic Excellence” and “Need for Ability Achievement,” Indian girls outperformed Tibetan girls. On the other hand, Indian boys outperformed Tibetan boys in the category of “Need for Academic Achievement.”