Poster #81 - Motivation and Self-Regulated Classroom Behaviors in Middle Childhood: Moderation by Parental Education

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Self-regulated behaviors, such as blocking out distractions and persistence on difficult tasks, support children’s engagement in classroom learning activities (Boekaerts & Corno, 2005; Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are strongly related to children’s self-regulated classroom behaviors (Pintrich & De Groot, 1990). Intrinsic motivation refers to doing a task for the inherent satisfaction of the task itself while extrinsic motivation refers to performing a task for the expected external consequences (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Parents’ behaviors influence their children’s motivation and self-regulated classroom behaviors (MacPhee et al., 2018). Given the associations mentioned above, first, we tested whether intrinsic and extrinsic motivation contribute uniquely to these behaviors. Second, we explored whether parental education moderated the association between motivation and self-regulated classroom behaviors during middle childhood.

The sample included 226 third-, fourth-, and fifth-graders from 33 classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area. Students reported on their intrinsic motivation (α = .74) and extrinsic motivation (α = .70) to work hard in the class and do homework (Developmental Studies Center, 2013). Parents reported on their highest level of education in years. Teachers reported on students’ task orientation using the Teacher-Child Rating Scale (Hightower et al., 1986) and working memory and cognitive flexibility using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (Gioia et al., 2000). These three subscales were standardized and averaged to create a composite measure of self-regulated classroom behaviors (α = .90). All models included school fixed effects and child age, gender, and ethnicity as covariates.

Model 1 tested whether intrinsic and extrinsic motivation uniquely contributed to self-regulated behaviors (Table 1). Results demonstrated that there were not main effects of motivation on self-regulated behaviors. Model 2 tested whether the association between motivation and self-regulated behaviors was moderated by parental education. The interaction between intrinsic motivation and parental education was significant, such that the association between intrinsic motivation and self-regulated behaviors was stronger for students whose parents have lower levels of education compared to students whose parents have higher levels of education (see Figure 1). Parental education did not moderate the association between extrinsic motivation and self-regulatory classroom behaviors.

While we do not find main effects of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation on children’s self-regulated classroom behaviors, we find that intrinsic motivation is positively associated with self-regulated classroom behaviors for children whose parents have lower levels of education. Possible implications of our results include the use of praise and feedback in the classroom that focuses on students’ effort during classroom tasks, rather than the use of reward-focused strategies (Deci et al., 2001). Additionally, a supportive teaching style and emphasis on the utility of classroom activities for personal development may also promote intrinsic motivation for disadvantaged students (Deci et al., 1991).

Authors

• Ana Saavedra, PhD Student - Stanford University
  Presenting Author

• Jenna E. Finch, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jelena Obradovic, Stanford University
  Non-Presenting Author