Unpacking domain-specific achievement motivation: the role of contextualising items for test-criterion correlations

Figures & data

Figure 1. CTC(M-1) Model 1. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; MAP: mastery-approach; MAV: mastery-avoidance; PAP: performance-approach; PAV: performance-avoidance; g: general; d: domain. Residuals are not shown.

Figure 2. CTC(M-1) Model 2. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; MAP: mastery-approach; MAV: mastery-avoidance; PAP: performance-approach; PAV: performance-avoidance; g: general; d: domain. Residuals are not shown.

Table 1. Standardised regression weights of the latent variables on the different scales, and consistency and method-specificity of these scales – Study 1.

	HS	MAP	MAV	PAP	PAV	FF	Method factor loading	Consistency	Method- specificity
HS (g)	0.84*** (0.80–0.88)							10.00
HS (d)	0.68*** (0.64–0.72)						0.56***	0.60	0.40
MAp (g)		0.84*** (0.83–0.85)						10.00
MAp (d)		0.66*** (0.62–0.70)					0.59***	0.56	0.44
MAv (g)			0.64*** (0.59–0.69)					10.00
MAv (d)			0.58*** (0.50–0.66)				0.26***	0.83	0.17
PAp (g)				0.93*** (0.88–0.98)				10.00
PAp (d)				0.84*** (0.81–0.87)			0.40***	0.81	0.19
PAv (g)					0.86*** (0.81–0.91)			10.00
PAv (d)					0.83*** (0.80–0.86)		0.33***	0.87	0.13
FF (g)						0.92*** (0.88–0.94)		10.00
FF (s)						0.79*** (0.76–0.82)	−0.15***	0.90	0.10

Note. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; MAP: mastery-approach; MAV: mastery-avoidance; PAP: performance-approach; PAV: performance-avoidance; (g): general; (d): domain. ***p ≤ .001. 95% confidence intervals can be found in parentheses below each estimate.

Table 2. Regressions of grades on constructs and math-specific method factor – Study 1.

	Math grades	Physics grades	German grades
HS	0.03	−0.02	0.20**
FF	−0.21*	−0.21	−0.03
MAV	−0.14	−0.10	0.10
MAP	0.26	0.36***	−0.07
PAV	0.02	0.17	0.05
PAP	0.12	−0.09	0.03
Domain	0.42***	0.07	−0.08
R^2	0.30***	0.11**	0.05*

Note. N = 325, HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; MAP: Mastery-Approach; MAV: Mastery-avoidance; PAP: Performance-Approach; PAV: Performance-Avoidance. *p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .01; ***p ≤ .001.

Table 3. Bivariate correlations between all specific predictors and zero-order correlations between all specific predictors and the criteria – Study 2.

	Sc_math	Se_math	Sc_German	Se_German	Math grade	German grade
HS_math	0.74**	0.42**	−0.21**	−0.07	−0.61**	−0.02
HS_German	−0.08	−0.04	0.55**	0.31**	−0.01	−0.39**
FF_math	−0.45**	−0.37**	0.07	−0.13**	0.40**	0.10*
FF_German	−0.09*	−0.11*	−0.25**	−0.32**	0.08	0.25**
Sc_math	10.00	0.51**	−0.26**	<0.01	−0.71**	−0.04
Sc_German	−0.26**	−0.11*	10.00	0.43**	0.11**	−0.54**
Se_math	0.51**	10.00	−0.11*	0.33**	−0.54**	−0.16**
Se_German	<0.01	0.33**	0.43**	10.00	−0.08	−0.47**

Note. N_{HS, FF, Sc} = 390, N_Grades = 388, N_Se = 382. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; Sc: self-concept; Se: self-esteem. The achievement motive scale and the single item self-esteem scale ranges from 1 to 4, the scales for the assessment of domain-specific self-concept and the grades range from 1 to 6. Correlations **p < .01, two-tailed. *p < .05, two-tailed.

Table 4. Standardised regression weights of the latent variables on the different scales, and consistency and method-specificity of these scales – Study 2.

	HS	FF	Method factor loading	Consistency^a	Method- specificity^a
HSgeneral	0.97*** (0.76–1)			1.00
HSmath	0.52*** (0.41–0.62)		−0.42*** (−0.53 to −0.31)	0.60	0.40
HSGerman	0.59*** (0.47–0.91)		−0.35*** (−0.49 to −0.21)	0.74	0.26
FFgeneral		0.87*** (0.78–0.95)		10.00
FFmath		0.87*** (0.80–0.94)	0.49*** (0.37–0.61)	0.76	0.24
FFGerman		0.93*** (0.86–0.99)	0.38*** (0.22–0.53)	0.86	0.14

Note. Estimator: MLR. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure. ***p ≤ .001. 95% confidence intervals can be found in parentheses below each estimate.

^aCalculated based on the unstandardised loadings.

Table 5. Regression results – Study 2.

	Math	German
Block 1
Hope for success	0.26**	0.19*
Fear of failure	−0.12*	−0.13*
Method Factor	−0.45***	−0.24**
R^2	0.30***	0.12**
Block 2
Hope for success	0.16***	0.12*
Fear of failure	−0.03	−0.03
Method Factor	−0.13	0.08
Self Concept	0.43***	0.45***
Self Esteem	0.24***	0.33***
R^2	0.58***	0.40***

Note. ***p < .001, two-tailed; **p < .01, two-tailed; *p < .05, two-tailed. R² = amount of explained variance. Estimator: MLR.

Appendix 1. Descriptive statistics, internal consistencies, and correlational patterns of general and domain-specific achievement motivation and grades.

			General						Domain
			PAp	PAv	MAp	MAv	HS	FF	PAp	PAv	MAp	MAv	HS	FF
	M	SD	R
General
PAp	1.7	.61		0.79***
PAv	1.7	.67		0.66***	0.77***
MAp	2.0	.52		0.38***	0.21**	0.68***
MAv	1.5	.58		0.23***	0.19***	0.33***	0.43***
HS	2.0	.52		0.26***	0.11*	0.46***	0.14*	0.67***
FF	1.2	.62		0.10	0.24***	0.18***	0.14*	0.06	0.71***
Domain
PAp	1.6	.69	0.79***	0.57***	0.37***	0.21***	0.25***	0.04	0.85***
PAv	1.6	.75	0.66***	0.72***	0.25***	0.21**	0.11	0.20*	0.74***	0.84***
MAp	1.9	.68	0.36***	0.22***	0.60***	0.28***	0.40***	0.11	0.55***	0.36***	0.84***
MAv	1.6	.66	0.18***	0.22**	0.25***	0.37***	0.13*	0.20***	0.30***	0.34***	0.37***	0.57***
HS	1.9	.66	0.31***	0.21***	0.40***	0.12*	0.58***	0.06	0.47***	0.34***	0.66***	0.27***	0.80***
FF	1.1	.75	0.05	0.15	0.25***	0.14*	0.03	0.74***	−0.02	0.13*	0.07	0.20***	−0.05	0.84***
Grades
Math	3.1	1.0	0.15**	0.07	0.11	<−0.001	0.13*	−0.18**	0.30***	0.18**	0.31***	0.10	0.35***	−0.31***
Phy	2.8	0.9	0.13**	0.08	0.16	0.03	0.12*	−0.12	0.13	0.10	0.18**	0.10	0.16	−0.14
Ger	3.0	0.7	0.03	0.02	0.06	<−0.001	0.14**	<−0.01	0.04	0.05	−0.04	0.09	0.04	−0.01

Note. N = 319–325; internal consistencies (α) are bold numbers in diagonal. P: Performance; M: Mastery; HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; Ap: Approach; Av: Avoidance; math: mathematics; Phy: physics; Ger: German. Achievement motivation items ranged from 1 to 4 and grades ranged from 1 to 6. *p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .01; ***p ≤ .001.

Appendix 4. Ranges, means, standard deviations, and internal consistencies for all used variables in Study 2

	Range		Mean		Standard deviation		Cronbach α
Hope for success
HS_general		3.29		2.94		0.60	0.89
HS_math		3.43		2.62		0.79	0.92
HS_German		3.00		2.63		0.68	0.91
Fear of failure
FF_general		3.00		1.89		0.64	0.86
FF_math		3.00		2.01		0.72	0.90
FF_German		3.00		1.90		0.68	0.90
Scholastic performance
math Grade		5.00		2.94		1.10	–^a
German Grade		50.00		20.87		0.82	–^a
Self-concept
Sc_math		4.00		3.22		1.00	0.95
Sc_German		4.00		3.59		0.82	0.92
Self-esteem
Se_math		3.00		2.57		0.99	–^a
Se_German		3.00		2.72		0.91	–^a

Note. N_{HS, FF, Sc} = 390, N_Grades = 388, N_Se = 382. HS: hope for success; FF: fear of failure; Sc: Self-concept; Se: Self-esteem. The achievement motive scale and the single item self- esteem scale range from 1 to 4, the scales for the assessment of academic self-concept and grades range from 1 to 6. ^aCronbach’s α is not reported as the variable is assessed as single-item measure.