Asian American College Students’ Achievement Goal Orientations, Academic Achievement, and Acculturation Orientations

• In Event: Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Topic - Education, Schooling

Abstract

Asian and Asian American students have been the focus of cross-cultural studies of academic motivation as a result of their high academic achievement (Hau & Ho, 2008). Extensive evidence exists for the positive effects of achievement goal orientations on college student outcomes (e.g., Harackiewicz et al., 1997) with some evidence that this generalizes to Asian American students (Zusho & Clayton, 2011). Asians are often treated as a homogenous group in the motivational literature and the diversity within Asians has not been thoroughly considered (Lee, 1996; Park et al., 2003). For example, cultural processes likely influence academic motivation in Asians and Asian American students (e.g., Markus & Kitiuama, 1991; Steinberg et al., 1992; Strage, 2000). However, these cultural processes may vary by how much the student adheres to their heritage culture. The purpose of the present study was two-fold: 1) to determine the relationship between achievement goal orientations and Asian American college students’ academic achievement and satisfaction, respectively, and 2) to investigate the moderating effect of acculturation orientation on the relationship between achievement goal orientations and academic outcomes among Asian American college students. We hypothesized that positive achievement goal orientations (i.e., mastery-approach and performance-approach) would positively predict academic achievement and satisfaction for Asian American students. Due to inconsistencies in the effects of avoidance orientations in Asian American populations, no hypotheses were specified for mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance orientations (Macayan, 2012; Witkow & Fuligni, 2007). Second, we expected the above relationship to be moderated by acculturation orientations. Students (N = 375; Mage = 20.37; SD = 1.79) at a public four-year university who identified as Asian American (56% East Asian) participated in a cross-sectional online study assessing achievement goal orientations (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance), acculturation orientations (heritage culture and American culture) and academic outcomes (self-reported cumulative GPA and academic satisfaction). Results were consistent with previous research on mastery- and performance-approach orientations having positive academic outcomes for college students. For our moderation hypothesis, the positive relationship between performance-approach orientation and GPA was moderated by American acculturation in the expected direction (see Figure 1). Furthermore, the positive relationship between mastery-approach orientation and academic satisfaction was moderated by heritage culture orientation in the expected direction (see Figure 2). Overall, identifying more with one’s heritage culture and identifying less with American culture may help us better understand the positive relationship between approach goals and academic success for Asian American college students. More research is needed on the role of performance-avoidance orientations. The findings suggest that a more nuanced understanding of Asian American college students’ motivation and outcomes is needed especially when examining cultural processes. Furthermore, instructors, academic advisors, and mental health professionals can promote positive motivational profiles by encouraging performance- and mastery-approach orientations and discouraging mastery-avoidance orientations among Asian American students.

Authors

• Brandilynn Villarreal, Humboldt State University
  Presenting Author

• Maria I. Iturbide, Cal Poly Humboldt
  Non-Presenting Author