Abstracts - Earli

N 1031 August 2007 16:00 - 17:20Room: HarmóniaPaper SessionMotivationChair:Maria Cardelle-Elawar, Arizona State University - West Campus, USAGoal orientation patterns, self-regulated learning, and academic achievement in high-schoolstudents: The role of perceived parent goal orientationSvjetlana Kolic-Vehovec, University of Rijeka, CroatiaBarbara Roncevic, University of Rijeka, CroatiaIgor Bajsanski, University of Rijeka, CroatiaThe aim of the present study was to identify patterns of goal orientations in high-school studentsand to examine the relations between perception of parents’ goal orientation and motivational andcognitive components of self-regulated learning in each group with specific goal orientationpattern, as well as the relevance of these components as predictors of academic achievement.High-school students (N = 358) responded to a self-report questionnaire, which included Personalachievement goal orientation scales, and Perceptions of parent goal scales from PALS (Midgley etal., 2000) and five subscales from Components of Self-Regulated Learning Inventory (Niemivirta,1998): Students’ goal orientation, Perceived control, Perceived ability, Value of studying, Deepprocessing strategies, Surface processing strategies and Self-handicapping. GPA was used asindicator of academic achievement. Cluster analysis of the scores of students’ goal orientationrevealed three clusters with specific goal orientation pattern: (1) mastery-oriented group (aboveaverage mastery, below average performance and work-avoidance); (2) multiple goals group(above average in all three orientations); (3) work-avoidance group (above average workavoidance,below average mastery and performance orientation). Correlation analysis showed thatperceived parents’ orientation on mastery and performance were independent in mastery-orientedgroup of students, while parents’ orientations were moderately positively related in other twogroups. Perceived parents orientation on mastery showed positive correlations with all componentsof self-regulated learning in mastery-oriented group. Motivational components of self-regulatedlearning were positively related to deep processing strategies in mastery oriented group andmultiple goals group. Regression analyses showed that perceived ability significantly predictedacademic achievement in students oriented on mastery, while lower perceived parents’ orientationon performance significantly predicted academic achievement in multiple goals and workavoidancegroup. Lower use of self-handicapping strategies significantly predicted academicachievement in all three goal orientation groups.Social comparisons: gains or losses?Jens Möller, University of Kiel, GermanyBritta Pohlmann, University of Kiel, GermanyStudents use social comparisons to evaluate their performance, comparing their own achievementin school subjects with that of other students. Downward comparisons triggered by goodperformances tend to enhance the academic self-concept, whereas upward comparisons triggeredby poor performances tend to lower the academic self-concept. Two field studies and oneexperimental study were conducted to investigate the psychological effects of achievement on– 743 –