Motivational Constructs Research Articles

Transient Ischemic Attack and Mild Stroke Participant Perspectives on Barriers and Enablers to Participation in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation

Background Exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation reduces the risk factors and recurrence of cardiovascular disease in patients with coronary heart disease. Despite similar risk factors, people with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and mild stroke do not attend cardiac rehabilitation. Cardiovascular rehabilitation (CVR), including TIA, stroke, and coronary heart disease, could be a solution for increasing participation. Perspectives from TIA and stroke survivors on barriers and enablers to participation in CVR are limited, and implementation strategies for CVR are currently unknown. Objectives We sought to determine (1) What were the perspectives of participants with TIA and mild stroke on barriers and enablers to uptake, engagement, and participation in CVR? and (2) What implementation strategies may influence people with TIA and mild stroke to participate in CVR? Methods In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with CVR participants. Inductive thematic analysis was completed before deductively mapping themes to implementation frameworks, the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior Model and Theoretical Domains Framework. Results Twenty participants aged 73 ± 11 years were interviewed. Most were men, stroke survivors, tertiary educated, and retired. Six themes were generated to explain the barriers and enablers to CVR participation. Themes and subthemes mapped to 8 Theoretical Domains Framework domains and 5 Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior constructs. Prioritizing participants' physical and social opportunities, reflective motivation, and physical and psychological capabilities may improve their participation in CVR. Conclusions Barriers and enablers to CVR participation were similar to those in the coronary heart disease population. Increasing access and availability of CVR for people with TIA and mild stroke should be prioritized for future implementation.

Describing Zoom exhaustion and fatigue in nursing students at a university in South Africa

Background: Online platforms have gained considerable support from students and lecturers post COVID-19, however they are associated with student exhaustion and fatigue.Aim: To determine Zoom exhaustion and fatigue in nursing students at a selected university in South Africa.Methods: A quantitative cross - sectional study was conducted in KwaZulu-Natal to collect data from 146 nursing students registered at the selected university for the 4-year Bachelor of Nursing programme. The Zoom Exhaustion and Fatigue Scale collected data on responses to domains of general fatigue, visual fatigue, social fatigue, motivational fatigue, and emotional fatigue. The data were analysed using the International Business Machines, Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 26.0. Descriptive statistics were calculated for demographics, a total score was calculated and mean scores and 95% confidence intervals for the different domains were calculated. Mann Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis Independent Tests were calculated to determine associations between demographics and Zoom usage.Results: The overall Zoom exhaustion and fatigue score was 46.71 (s.d. = 10.50). The motivational fatigue construct had the highest mean score of 3.29 (s.d. = 0.83), followed by general (3.18 s.d. = 0.81), social (3.11, s.d. = 0.88), emotional (3.06, s.d. = 0.99) and visual fatigue (2.92, s.d. = 0.94).Conclusion: The study concluded that while the overall mean score indicated moderate levels of Zoom exhaustion and fatigue among respondents, majority of the respondents scored high levels ( 48) of Zoom fatigue. Students reported higher levels of motivational fatigue compared to the other 4 constructs.

While stairing up: perceiving shades of academic motivation of high school first-generation learners and desired academic outcomes

What motivates a first-generation learner to go to school? The question haunts a social scientist when exploring dimensions of academic motivation of the first-generation Learners in rural and remote context. Learners from the low Socio-Economic Status are ‘at risk’ of academic motivation, cohere with specific psychological behaviours leading to academic failure. Gathering quantitative and qualitative data, the study opts to capture dimensions of motivational constructs of first-generation Learners. The study adopts explanatory sequential research design that entails triangulating quantitative statistical results with qualitative findings to validate the outcome of the study. The student participants were 1554 selected through stratified random sampling using gender, social affiliation and grade as criteria for getting hierarchy. The findings include steady decline of academic motivation of Learners in the secondary level of school education under the lens of socio-economic context, home environment and school and neighborhood quality perceiving academic, and psychological hardships as the outcome.

Cognitive Engagement and Subjective Well-Being in Adults: Exploring the Role of Domain-Specific Need for Cognition

Need for Cognition (NFC) is an investment trait reflecting interindividual differences in intrinsically motivated engagement in cognitive endeavors. While other motivational constructs like the ability self-concept are typically conceptualized domain-specific, NFC was initially conceived to describe domain-general behavior. Building on a previous study reporting the relevance of domain-specific aspects of NFC in the school context, we investigated the domain-specificity of NFC in predicting various aspects of subjective well-being across three samples with N = 1074 participants and subsamples of students and professionals ranging from n = 140 to n = 346. Our findings reveal positive associations of both domain-general and domain-specific NFC with positive affect, life satisfaction, and job- and study-related satisfaction. In part, domain-specific NFC was more strongly related to domain-specific life satisfaction compared to domain-general NFC. Additionally, we found evidence for small incremental values of domain-specific NFC over and above domain-general NFC in predicting subjective well-being. Confirming previous research, self-control and the emotion regulation strategy reappraisal partially mediated the prediction of well-being by NFC. Our results indicate that additionally considering NFC as domain-specific can meaningfully complement the domain-general conceptualization.

Exploring facets of student motivation using a Bass Ackward strategy and the conceptual lens of self-determination theory

Motivational constructs have proliferated in educational psychology, reflecting the complexity of what moves people to engage and learn. In this exploratory research, we focused on students’ motivation for higher education. Our goal was to understand how a wide range of motives are empirically and conceptually related. We also examined how this diversity of motivational content relates to the motivational typology postulated by Self-Determination Theory (SDT). In Study 1, we extracted items from a broad collection of measures, formatted them with a common set of instructions, and administered them to multiple samples of current and former U.S. college students. Using Goldberg’s (2006) Bass Ackward factor-analytic method, we distilled twenty-six distinct facets that capture a wide variety of motivational contents. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) suggested a dimension that resembled SDT’s continuum of relative autonomy, with some facets similar to amotivation and others falling along a range from less to more autonomous or volitional forms of motivation. In Study 2, we administered these provisionally labelled motivational facets alongside SDT’s regulatory styles and a set of external criteria covering multiple outcomes of interest in higher education. MDS analyses replicated the general pattern found in Study 1, recovering a dimension resembling SDT’s continuum of autonomy. Motivational facets were also associated with external criteria in a theoretically coherent manner. We discuss the implications of these exploratory findings for understanding the structure of self-reported motivation and for theory and measurement of student motivation.

The environment is somewhat alike for different adaptive motivations: Machine learning reveals optimal motivational contexts involve collective support of parents, teachers, and peers

Achievement motivation is fundamental for human flourishing. While numerous adaptive motivational constructs have been proposed, they are often examined in isolation without considering their shared contextual roots. To identify the contextual factors underlying different forms of adaptive achievement motivation, we conducted comprehensive analyses by integrating a global student assessment dataset (n = 77,068 middle-school students across 19 countries, Mage = 15.79). We conducted a literature review and identified 27 potential predictors theoretically and empirically related to achievement motivation, including immediate contextual factors available in the dataset and distal contextual factors available from varying sources. Results from machine learning analyses showed convergent patterns of the contextual predictors for adaptive motivation (self-efficacy, learning goals, and task mastery orientation). Specifically, the optimal environment for adaptive motivation is characterized by the collective positive influence from parents, teachers, and peers, rather than depending on one exclusively. In comparison, the pattern of other less adaptive motivation constructs (fixed mindsets, performance goals, and fear of failure) is idiosyncratic. These findings provide synthesized evidence consolidating achievement motivation research, highlighting the shared contextual foundations for various adaptive motivations. This integrative approach clarifies that the optimal motivational contexts involve the collective social support of parents, teachers, and peers.

Using the ibsr technique as a psychological intervention to alleviate student stress in biology learning: Impacts on motivation, knowledge construction, and cognitive anxiety

Learning difficulties are a common issue faced by students, with stress being a significant contributing factor. One psychological treatment that has been shown to effectively reduce stress is Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction (IBSR). The objective of this study is to integrate IBSR into a discovery learning strategy in Biology in the classroom, with the aim of increasing students' learning motivation and knowledge construction while reducing their learning difficulties and cognitive anxiety. This is quasi-experimental research that used a post-test non-equivalent control group design. The study involved 72 11th-grade science students from two different classes at one of the public high schools in Bandung City. One class, consisting of 36 students, received IBSR treatment, while the other class, also consisting of 36 students, did not. Both classes used a discovery learning framework for teaching. Data on motivation, learning difficulties, and cognitive anxiety were collected using a rating scale questionnaire with eight scales. Students' ability to construct knowledge was measured using the German Cognitive Load (GCL) instrument in the form of a written test with indicators taken from Mayer's cognitive taxonomy (2002) in the realm of understanding. The study found that incorporating IBSR techniques into learning strategies for the immune system material can reduce student stress and improve learning performance, motivation, and knowledge construction (GCL), while also decreasing learning difficulties and cognitive anxiety.

Enhancing Clinicians' Use of Electronic Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Outpatient Care: Mixed Methods Study.

Despite the increasing use of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) for collecting self-reported data among hospital outpatients, clinicians' use of these data remains suboptimal. Insight into this issue and strategies to enhance the use of PROMs are critical but limited. This study aimed to examine clinicians' use of PROM data for value-based outpatient consultations and identify efforts to enhance their use of PROMs in a Dutch university hospital. First, we aimed to investigate clinicians' use of outpatients' PROM data in 2023, focusing on adoption, implementation, and maintenance. Second, we aimed to develop insights into the organizational-level strategies implemented to enhance clinicians' use of PROM data from 2020 to 2023. This included understanding the underlying rationales for these strategies and identifying strategies that appeared to be missing to address barriers or leverage facilitators. Third, we aimed to explore the key factors driving and constraining clinicians' use of PROMs in 2023. We integrated data from 4 sources: 1-year performance data on clinicians' use of PROMs (n=70 subdepartments), internal hospital documents from a central support team (n=56), a survey among clinicians (n=47), and interviews with individuals contributing to the organizational-level implementation of PROMs (n=20). The Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework was used to analyze clinicians' adoption, implementation, and maintenance of PROMs. Strategies were analyzed using the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change taxonomy, and results were structured around the constructs of capability, opportunity, and motivation. On average, around 2023, clinicians accessed PROM data for approximately 3 of 20 (14%) patients during their outpatient consultation, despite numerous strategies to improve this practice. We identified issues in adoption, implementation, and maintenance. The hospital's strategies, shaped organically and pragmatically, were related to 27 (37%) out of 73 Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change strategies. These strategies focused on enhancing clinicians' capability, opportunity, and motivation. We found shortcomings in the quality of execution and completeness of strategies in relation to addressing all barriers and leveraging facilitators. We identified variations in the factors influencing the use of PROMs among frequent PROM users, occasional users, and nonusers. Challenges to effective facilitation were apparent, with certain desired strategies being unfeasible or impeded. Enhancing clinicians' use of PROMs has remained challenging despite various strategies aimed at improving their capability, opportunity, and motivation. The use of PROMs may require more substantial changes than initially expected, necessitating a shift in clinicians' professional attitudes and practices. Hospitals can facilitate rather than manage clinicians' genuine use of PROMs. They must prioritize efforts to engage clinicians with PROMs for value-based outpatient care. Specific attention to their professionalization may be warranted. Tailored strategies, designed to address within-group differences in clinicians' needs and motivation, hold promise for future efforts.

Reflections on the Six Motives That Drive Tourists’ Pleasure Vacation Behavior

A set of six motive constructs emerged from a review of a half-century of research purporting to determine the motives that guide tourists’ pleasure decisions: curiosity, boredom alleviation, disinhibited play, biophilia, reinforcement of bonds with intimate groups, and ego-enhancement. Frequently, emotions, outcomes, reasons, personalities, and/or actions were confusingly mischaracterized as motives. The theoretical/conceptual physiological and psychological underpinning of each motive construct are described, together with the diagnostic antecedent behaviors that infer a motive is in a state of disequilibrium, and the restorative behaviors in which tourists engage to restore equilibrium. Directions for future research are suggested.

A Study on Travel Motivation, Attitude, and Travel Intention of the Tourists Visiting Chandragiri Hills

This research aims to explore the relationship between travel motivation, tourists’ attitudes, and travel intention, with a specific focus on Chandragiri Hills a new destination that has attracted many domestic and international tourists, since its inception in 2016. Yet the academic research of its tourism dynamics remains limited. Utilizing a descriptive survey questionnaire, data were collected from 450 tourists to analyze the construct of travel motivation, attitude towards the destination, and travel intention. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed altogether 30 measurement items regarding travel motivation, attitude, and travel intention. The data were analyzed using the theory of planned behaviour. The findings of the study revealed that motivation significantly influences both tourist's attitude and their travel intention. Novelty-seeking, relaxation, and social interaction are the chief push factors contributing to positive attitudes towards the destination. The findings have meaningful implications for tourism marketing strategies, whereby such motivational factors come to the centre to develop the attractiveness of Chandragiri Hills and improve tourism management practices. The result contributes to a greater understanding of tourist behavior in emerging destinations and provides insight into how effective planning and management could work within the tourism sector.

A situated expectancy-value theoretical perspective of teaching presence and student engagement in blended learning environments

Teaching presence is a key factor affecting student engagement, yet scant research has examined the uniquely longitudinal effect of teaching presence on student engagement. This study, guided by the the processual, situated, and directional lens of Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (SEVT), employed longitudinal structural equation modeling to analyze data from 258 undergraduate students at a Chinese university, investigating how initial teaching presence influenced subsequent motivational constructs (self-efficacy and course value) and student engagement in blended learning environments. Our findings longitudinally revealed there was an evolving and complex interplay among these constructs. Teaching presence demonstrated a sustained autoregressive effect of itself. Meanwhile, teaching presence acted as a situated catalyst that not only affected student engagement during the observation period but also later perceptions of course value and self-efficacy, which in turn increased student engagement levels at the end of the semester. Furthermore, while self-efficacy and course value mediated the relationship between teaching presence and student engagement, the mediating effect of course value was more pronounced. Additionally, the directionality of predicting relationships, revealing a predominant influence from teaching presence to student engagement, rather than a reciprocal relationship. This research underscores the importance of instructional strategies prioritizing a robust teaching presence to initiate a cycle of positive student engagement in blended learning environments. By understanding the longitudinal effects of teaching presence, educators can develop more effective approaches to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.

Navigating the College Students' Adversities: The Role of Academic Buoyancy and Motivation on Learning Achievement

Understanding the predictor of learning achievement among college students is crucial to adopting the appropriate learning strategy. Academic buoyancy is one of the predictors of learning achievement, playing a vital role in helping students navigate academic setbacks and adversities. However, the previous studies failed to reveal a robust link between the two variables. Therefore, this study aims to explain the nexus between academic buoyancy and students’ learning achievement more clearly by introducing the mediating variable, motivational constructs, which include self-efficacy, persistence, and anxiety. This study involved 493 college students in Indonesia. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to examine the research hypotheses. The results show that academic buoyancy directly affects learning achievement. Furthermore, motivational constructs (self-efficacy, persistence, and anxiety) significantly mediate the relationship between academic buoyancy and learning achievement. This study contributes to the literature by explaining how academic buoyancy affects learning achievement through motivational constructs as a mediating variable. Furthermore, the university must promote students’ academic buoyancy and motivational constructs by providing counseling services and encouraging students to recognize and address the adversities during lecture activities.

Exploring how translanguaging and multimodal learning improve EFL students’ enjoyment and proficiency

Many studies have shown that translanguaging promotes inclusive and dynamic learning environments. However, little is known about multimodal techniques to improve student engagement and satisfaction. The present study aims to examine the impact of these combined strategies on student understanding, motivation, and identity construction in language acquisition. The study involved twenty students in the second semester of the English Language Education Department at a university in Bekasi, West Java, Indonesia. The data were garnered through a quantitative method using a questionnaire and a qualitative method using in-depth interviews. Out of the total number of participants, five students were selected for in-depth interviews to explore rich data on students' emotional, motivational, cognitive, and expressive responses to translanguaging. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed statistically while the data obtained from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results suggest that adding translanguaging and multimodal strategies to the learning environment promotes a more engaging and inclusive atmosphere, thereby enhancing student satisfaction and language proficiency. Conversely, complications were identified for students with diminished proficiency requiring further assistance. The research emphasizes the potential of translanguaging to enhance linguistic competence, student confidence, and motivation, indicating that it is a valuable pedagogical tool in EFL classrooms.

Disentangling greed and self-interest

Greed combines dissatisfaction with one’s current state of affairs with an unsatisfiable desire for more. It motivates people to acquire more and has many societal implications. Various scholars have argued that greed is associated with, or even equated to the motive of self-interest. And hence, they have also argued that greed is associated negatively with other-interest (some definitions even suggest that greed produces negative externalities and harm-to-others). To date, however, these ideas have not been scrutinized empirically. In this article we report three survey studies (N1 = 145, N2 = 302, and N3 = 346) that adopted an individual differences perspective to investigate how dispositional greed, self-interest, and other-interest are related to each other. The results from correlational analyses and confirmatory factor analyses indicate that greed is distinct from self-interest, and from other-interest. The results also reveal that greed and self-interest are differentially related to various distinct behavioral inclinations. The current findings corroborate recent research on greed and adds to the understanding of this motivational construct and the potential harm it can inflict on others.

Tracing the dynamics of motivational self-constructs across the lifespan: Tales from senior learners of English

In the context of an ageing and increasingly more independent learning population, a narrative inquiry into the life stories of motivated and still active senior language users remains a promising yet unexplored area. This case study forms part of a PhD research (Darnault, 2023) on the motivational dynamics of lifelong foreign language learning (FLL) individuals. We recorded the retrospective stories of 3 exceptionally motivated French senior learners of English, aged 65 to 80, from childhood to their current learning experience. Our triangulated and multimodal approach elicited written, oral and visual data. An inductive thematic analysis first highlighted the emergence of motivational peaks, subsequently followed by the examination of clusters of self-constructs within participants’ individual time frames in light of the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) framework. Results showed that upon retirement all three learners integrated language learning into their daily routine, incorporating it as an integral part of their identity and broader sense of self outside L2 domain-specific motivational constructs. A particularly unyielding hybrid L2 self emerged in later years, drawing from the combination of ought-to, ideal and anti-ought-to selves that prevailed with different degrees of intensity and interaction according to life periods.

A multigroup random-intercept cross-lagged panel model for Finnish secondary school students in frame of situated expectancy-value theory

The aim of this study is to examine both within-person and between-person associations of academic self-concept and task values in literacy and mathematics to identify the most promising motivational construct to prevent motivational decline during school transitions. The sample included 3636 students (average age at the start: 15.73 years, SD: 0.32 years) followed up three times from lower secondary school (T1) to the third year (T3) of upper secondary education, either in vocational or academic tracks. Multi-group random intercept cross-lagged panel models detected several spillover (cross-lagged) effects between self-concept and task values in mathematics but not in literacy. There were also marginal but significant differences between students from different educational tracks in both subjects. Overall, utility value and academic self-concept in mathematics were found to be the most promising motivational constructs in changing motivational beliefs, thus presenting important starting points in motivational interventions. Educational relevance and implications statementThis study highlights that spillover effects are more pronounced in maths than in literacy, emphasising the need for tailored interventions in mathematics education. Moreover, the potential disruption in students' motivational beliefs during school transitions suggests the importance of ensuring continuity in support to help mitigate the impact of these transitions. While our results indicate limited carryover effects, it is possible that school transitions are experienced as breaks in motivational development. The role of utility value in exhibiting spillover effects over school transitions in both maths and literacy suggests the significance of emphasising the practical relevance of academic subjects to sustain students' motivation. Additionally, recognising the superior role of academic self-concept in maths in spillover effects on task values underscores the importance of nurturing students' confidence and beliefs in their own mathematical abilities.

Motivation and English Language Learning: Students’ Perspectives

This study investigates university students’ motivation for learning English language in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The region is a foreign language learning context because English language learners almost entirely learn the language inside the classroom and without regular exposure to the English language outside. Besides English language centers, English Department in private universities is one of the most wanted departments in the region. However, we do not know students’ motivation for their choice. Therefore, a questionnaire was administered to 106 students from English department in a private university with the intention to obtain knowledge about their motivation for learning the English language and more specifically whether it is integrative and/or instrumental motivation. The study found that the level of students’ integrative motivation was different from instrumental motivation. This finding can be used by educators and university lecturers to embed motivation constructs in their teaching practices to keep the students motivated throughout their college years and have the desired outcome in the end.

Writing Self-Efficacy and Affect Across Genres: An Exploratory Factor Analysis with Upper-Elementary Students

The purpose of the study was to develop a measure of motivation with upper-elementary learners that addressed self-efficacy and affect across the genres of persuasion and story writing. Research has found relationships between writing achievement and several motivational constructs. Indeed, motivational scales/questionnaires exist that examine self-efficacy and affect, but little research has examined whether learners’ responses remain consistent across genres. The study developed scales of self-efficacy and affect for writing in general, narrative writing, and persuasive writing. An exploratory factor analysis was employed examining factors across the genres of narration and persuasion and on the general scale from 281 learners (n = 144 female) in grades 3 to 5. Three factors were extracted across scales and results found statistically significant differences by grade on affect, grammar, and processes, across scales while female learners had higher self-efficacy and affect; genre differences were detected for processes and tasks. Limitations as well as implications for research are discussed.

Development and Validation of the Pre-Service Teacher Online Teaching Motivation Scale (PST-OTMS)

The purpose of the current study was to develop and validate the Pre-Service Teacher Online Teaching Motivation Scale (PST-OTMS), a survey instrument designed to reliably measure motivational constructs related to online teaching and learning in pre-service teachers. Due to increasing opportunities to teach within online learning contexts where challenges were magnified during the COVID-19 pandemic, a reliable and valid instrument is needed to measure such motivational constructs. The Pre-Service Teacher Online Teaching Motivation Survey (PST-OTMS) underwent a thorough validation process resulting in a 31-item survey aimed at assessing pre-service teacher motivation for online teaching across four dimensions: (1) pre-service teacher self-efficacy for online teaching, (2) pre-service teacher perceptions of online teaching and learning, (3) online teaching professionalism, and (4) pre-service teacher anticipated administrative support for online teaching. The PST-OTMS demonstrated strong reliability and validity within the research context. Future research aims to widely administer the PST-OTMS to explore reliability and validity within additional settings and with a more diverse demographic.

The transition patterns of learners’ behavior and the association with motivation and cognitive engagement in online learning

This study investigated the transitions in behavioral patterns of students participating in online learning throughout a semester. We analyzed the page view behavior of 283 students enrolled in a course designed to enhance online readiness at a Midwestern university. Utilizing K-means cluster analysis, we tracked page view frequency across various tasks, including assignments, overviews, and reading resources. Our findings indicate a decline in page view frequency for all tasks. Four distinct clusters were identified: active, passive, assignment-oriented, and overview-oriented groups. A notable shift was observed with the majority of students transitioning to the passive group in the second half of the semester. Examining the factors influencing this shift, we employed motivation constructs from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and measures of cognitive engagement. The results revealed that deep learning strategies and identified motivation positively correlate with the maintenance of active and engaged behaviors. Conversely, shallow learning strategies are associated with decreased active engagement and a focus on specific tasks. External motivation served as a predicting factor for remaining passivity. These insights contribute to understanding the dynamics of student engagement in online learning environment.