Is the incremental theory of intelligence a key to students’ motivational engagement? The moderating effects of self-enhancement and self-criticism

ABSTRACT

The incremental theory of intelligence has been identified as a strong predictor of students’ learning motivation. Recent research has suggested various moderators of its effect. The present study sought to examine the moderating effects of self-enhancement and self-criticism on the relation between incremental intelligence beliefs and students’ motivational engagement. Responses were collected from 440 junior secondary school students in Macau. The results showed that self-enhancement strengthened the effect of incremental beliefs on students’ efforts after a perceived failure. Self-criticism strengthened the effect of incremental beliefs on efforts after a perceived success. The reasons for these findings are discussed and their pedagogical implications elucidated.

KEYWORDS:

• Implicit theories
• incremental beliefs
• self-enhancement
• self-criticism
• motivational engagement

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Wei-Wen Chen, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, China. Her research focuses on how cultural and familial factors, such as filial piety beliefs, impact college students' learning, relationships, and adaptation.

Ching-Chen Chen, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of counselor education program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. Her research interests include multicultural counseling, cross-cultural research, adolescent development, family issues and risky behavior.

Chia-Liang Dai, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. His research focuses on examining the association between cultural/familial factors and health; applying integrative health intervention (i.e., yoga & mindfulness mediation) to promote healthy weight, mental health, and substance use prevention.

Nok Man U, M.Ed., is a graduate of Educational Psychology at the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, China. Her research focuses on how culture-related cognitive factors, such as self-criticism, impact students' motivational responses in learning and other areas.

Lin Cheng, M.Ed, is a graduate of Educational Psychology at the Faculty of Education, University of Macau, China. She is now a research assistant at the School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, China. Her research focuses on how psycho-social factors affect health, especially in the area of psychological resilience.

ORCID

Lin Chen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0020-4404

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Universidade de Macau [grant number MYRG042-Y1-L1].