Factors related to Taiwanese adolescents’ academic engagement and achievement goal orientations

Abstract

The present study examined the relationships of Taiwanese eighth graders’ perceived autonomy support from teachers, parental psychological control, implicit theories of intelligence, and achievement goal orientations to their agentic, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement in schoolwork. Also, the current research explored the determining factors of Taiwanese adolescents’ achievement goal orientations. Four hundred and two eighth-grade Taiwanese students completed a self-reported survey assessing the variables described above. Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that autonomy support from teachers along with incremental theory of intelligence positively predicted all the four components of academic engagement. Each aspect of academic engagement was associated with different achievement goal orientations. Additionally, results of this study suggested that teachers’ autonomy support versus parental psychological control as well as students’ incremental versus entity theories of intelligence all positively predicted mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal orientations. Implications for educational practices and future research are discussed.