Value orientations and studying in school–leisure conflict: A study with samples from five countries

Abstract

The relations between students' value orientations and experiences of motivational interference during studying following conflicts between learning and leisure activities were investigated in a self-report study. Overall, 1075 adolescents, mostly from Catholic schools, in Bosnia–Herzegovina ( n = 203), India ( n = 200), Paraguay ( n = 96), Spain ( n = 442), and the US ( n = 134), participated. The samples varied substantially in terms of modern and postmodern value orientations, experience of motivational interference during studying, and time invested in studying. By controlling for age, gender, and economic capital, postmodern value orientation was positively related to conflict frequency and experience of motivational interference during learning, and negatively related to time investment. For modern value orientation, the relations were almost reversed. Despite the considerable differences between the sample means, the study revealed some consistency in the relations between the variables across the samples, which indicates that most of the relations can be generalized.