A Person-Centered Approach to Examining High-School Students’ Motivation, Engagement and Academic Performance

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-16-2020

Publication Title

Contemporary Educational Psychology

Volume

62

First page number:

1

Last page number:

13

Abstract

This study examined the relationship among motivation, engagement, and academic performance through a person-centered research approach. Participants included 10,527 students in grades 9 to 12 from twenty public high schools across the state of Ohio in the United States. Latent profile analysis revealed seven profiles of academic motivation including the amotivated, externally regulated, balanced demotivated, moderately motivated, identified/externally regulated, balanced motivated, and autonomously motivated profile groups. Students in these motivational profiles exhibited differences in cognitive and social engagement, as well as academic performance. In addition, multiple-group path analysis revealed different patterns of relationship among cognitive engagement, social engagement, and GPA, suggesting that motivational profile membership moderated the relationship between engagement and academic performance.

Keywords

Academic motivation; Cognitive engagement; Social engagement; Latent profile analysis; Multiple-group path analysis

Disciplines

Education | Educational Psychology

Language

English

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