Ronnel B King

How you think about your intelligence determines how you feel in school: The role of theories of intelligence on academic emotions

Ronnel B. King — Sat, 26 May 2012 01:12:57 PDT

Research on implicit theories of intelligence and academic emotions have proceeded in parallel with little cross-over of ideas. This study aims to examine the potential synergies that may exist between these two strands of research by examining whether implicit theories of intelligence can function as a predictor of academic emotions when situated within Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions. Filipino secondary school students (N = 1147) participated in the study. Hierarchical regression analyses were employed to investigate the predictive effects of implicit theories of intelligence on academic emotions after controlling for the variance accounted for by demographic variables, social environmental factors, and achievement goals which have been identified as important antecedents in previous research. Results indicated that holding an entity theory of intelligence positively predicted negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom. However, it was not significantly related to the positive emotions of enjoyment, hope, and pride. The usefulness of these findings for integrating theorizing in the implicit theories of intelligence and academic emotions literature is discussed.

Testing the factorial invariance of the Filipino and English versions of the Inventory of School Motivation for Filipino bilingual students

Fraide A. Ganotice et al. — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:02:14 PDT

This study tests the invariance of the original English version and the Filipino translation of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM; McInerney & Sinclair, 1992), an instrument that assesses student motivation in schools. In particular, the study (a) assessed the invariance of the ISM across two Filipino-English bilingual samples that answered one of the two language versions, and (b) assessed the between-network construct validity of the two language versions, by examining how selected motivation scales of the two versions relate to students’ self-perceptions

The development and validation of the Relational Self-esteem Scale

Hongfei Du et al. — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:38:55 PDT

he development and validation of the Relational Self-Esteem Scale. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. According to the tripartite model of the self (Brewer & Gardner, 1996), the self consists of three aspects: personal, relational, and collective. Correspondingly, individuals can achieve a sense of self-worth through their personal attributes (personal self-esteem), relationship with signiﬁcant others (relational self-esteem), or social group membership (collective self-esteem). Existing measures on personal and collective self-esteem are available in the literature; however, no scale exists that assesses relational self-esteem. The authors developed a scale to measure individual differences in relational self-esteem and tested it with two samples of Chinese university students. Between and within-network approaches to construct validation were used. The scale showed adequate internal consistency reliability and results of the conﬁrmatory factor analysis showed good ﬁt. It also exhibited meaningful correlations with theoretically relevant constructs in the nomological network. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Including social goals in achievement motivation research: Examples from the Philippines

Ronnel B. King et al. — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 00:11:38 PST

Traditional theories of achievement motivation such as achievement goal theory mostly neglected its more social aspects. This paper focuses on social goal as a key construct and argues for the need to include social goals in the research agenda. This is especially important when conducting research among collectivist societies where the interdependent self-construal is more salient. Examples of social goal research done within one collectivist culture, the Philippines, are provided. Overall, social goal research in the Philippines supports the inclusion of social goals when examining students’ motivational dynamics.

“Socializing” Achievement Goal Theory: The Need for Social Goals

Ronnel B. King — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:25:04 PST

Cultures shape the types of goals that students pursue in the classroom. However, research in achievement goal theory seems to have neglected this cultural aspect with its exclusive focus on individualistically-based goals such as mastery and performance goals. This emphasis on mastery and performance goals may reflect Western individualist psychological thinking. Thus, social goals, which may be more salient in collectivist cultures, are relatively neglected. There is a dearth of studies investigating the role of social goals in academic motivation, and the few studies that did explore them are somewhat problematic. This paper reviews research done within the achievement goal theory, considers the need for more studies on social goals, and concludes with the argument that social goals are important in understanding student motivation especially in collectivist cultures.

Competitiveness is not that bad. . .at least in the East: Testing the hierarchical model of achievement motivation in the Asian setting

Ronnel B. King et al. — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 20:26:02 PST

Competitiveness has usually been viewed as a negative trait as it leads to suboptimal outcomes. However, research in cross-cultural psychology has indicated that competitiveness may hold different meanings for people from individualist and collectivist cultures. The current study investigates the effects of competitiveness on different educational outcomes in the collectivistic Chinese cultural context. Utilizing the hierarchical model of achievement motivation, this study aims to examine the relationships among individual differences (trait mastery and trait competitiveness), achievement goals (mastery and performance goals), and learning strategies (deep and surface learning strategies). Six hundred ninety-seven secondary school students from Hong Kong answered questionnaires assessing the relevant variables. Path models indicated that there were important differences in the pattern of relationships among the variables in our study compared to previous findings in the West. First, contrary to Western studies, trait competitiveness was predictive of mastery goals and not only of performance goals. Second, performance goals positively predicted the adoption of deep learning strategies but were not significantly related to surface learning strategies. Results are discussed in light of current findings in cross-cultural psychology. The findings hold substantive theoretical and practical implications for researchers and practitioners seeking to understand achievement motivation of students from more collectivist cultures.

Examining the application of Web 2.0 in medical related organisations

Samuel K.W. Chu et al. — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:44:37 PST

Objectives: This study surveyed Web 2.0 application in three types of selected health or medical-related organisations such as university medical libraries, hospitals and non-profit medical-related organisations. Methods: Thirty organisations participated in an online survey on the perceived purposes, benefits and difficulties in using Web 2.0. A phone interview was further conducted with eight organisations (26.7%) to collect information on the use of Web 2.0. Data were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Results: Results showed that knowledge and information sharing and the provision of a better communication platform were rated as the main purposes of using Web 2.0. Time constraints and low staff engagement were the most highly rated difficulties. In addition, most participants found Web 2.0 to be beneficial to their organisations. Conclusions: Medical-related organisations that adopted Web 2.0 technologies have found them useful, with benefits outweighing the difficulties in the long run. The implications of this study are discussed to help medical-related organisations make decisions regarding the use of Web 2.0 technologies.

Validation of the Chinese version of the Sense of Self (SOS) Scale

Ronnel B. King et al. — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:07:05 PST

This study explored the cross-cultural applicability of the Sense of Self (SOS) Scale in the Hong Kong Chinese cultural context. The SOS Scale is a 26-item questionnaire designed to measure students’ sense of purpose, self-reliance, and self-concept in school. Six hundred ninety-seven Hong Kong Chinese high school students participated in the study. Both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation were adopted. Responses to this questionnaire are shown to have good internal consistency reliability, and support is provided for its construct validity in terms of its factorial structure and correlations with other educational outcomes such as learning strategies. In addition, multigroup confirmatory factor analysis also indicated invariance of the instrument across males and females, across students of different year levels, and across students from different types of school. Implications for cross-cultural research are discussed.

The reliability and validity of the Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies Survey (GOALS-S): A Filipino investigation

Ronnel B. King et al. — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:17:53 PST

The Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies Survey (GOALS-S; Dowson & McInerney, 2004) is an instrument designed to assess four sets of constructs: (1) academic goals, (2) social goals, (3) cognitive strategies, and (4) metacognitive strategies of high school students. This instrument was initially developed and validated among students in Australia. The applicability of this instrument to the Philippine setting was tested in a study involving 1,147 Filipino students from Metro Manila. Responses to this questionnaire are shown to have good internal consistency reliability. Support is provided for its within-network construct validity in terms of its factorial structure and evidence of its between-network construct validity is shown through its correlations with other valued educational outcomes. Different multigroup confirmatory factor analysis likewise indicated that the instrument is invariant across genders, across year levels, and across type of school. Suggestions for further research using the GOALS-S are provided.

Investigating the link between social goals and learning strategies

Ronnel B. King et al. — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 06:20:32 PDT

Research in cross-cultural psychology has indicated that people from different cultures are motivated by different types of goals. In collectivist cultures, the power of social goals may be especially salient. However, studies on student motivation usually focus only on two types of goals: mastery and performance goals, thus neglecting the potential role of social goals. The aim of the present study was to investigate how different types of social goals, i.e. social affiliation, social approval, social concern, and social status goals were related to learning strategies in a collectivist culture. 697 secondary students from Hong Kong answered the relevant questionnaires. Results indicated that social concern and social status goals were the most adaptive type of social goal. Implications are discussed.

What do students feel in school and how do we measure them?: Examining the psychometric properties of the S-AEQ-F.

Ronnel B. King — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:26:59 PDT

The objective of this study was to examine the reliability and construct validity of the Short Version of the Academic Emotions Questionnaire for Filipinos (S-AEQ-F) which is an adaptation of the Academic Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ; Pekrun, Goetz, & Perry, 2005). The S-AEQ-F measures eight discrete academic emotions in the learning context: anger, anxiety, boredom, enjoyment, hope, hopelessness, pride, and shame. Filipino high school students (N = 1,121) completed the S-AEQ-F. Responses to this questionnaire were shown to have good internal structure and support was affirmed for its construct validity in terms of its factorial structure and correlations with other educational outcomes. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis supported the original two higher order factor structures with eight underlying discrete emotions. Taken together, this study sustained the utility of the S-AEQ-F for Filipino respondents.

Cross-cultural validity of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM) in Chinese and Filipino samples

Ronnel B. King et al. — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:13:40 PDT

Students’ achievement goals in school have received increasing research attention because they have been shown to be important in predicting important outcomes. As such, there has been a growing interest in measuring and comparing them across different cultural groups. However, these comparisons cannot be made until validity evidence has been attained to support the use of an instrument in the new cultural setting. In this study, we investigated the cross-cultural applicability of the Inventory of School Motivation (ISM, McInerney, Roche, McInerney, & Marsh, 1997) in the Hong Kong Chinese and Philippine contexts using both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation. The ISM measures four types of achievement goals: mastery, performance, social, and extrinsic goals. 1,406 high school students from Hong Kong (n=697) and the Philippines (n=709) participated. Results of the within-network test showed that the ISM had good internal consistency reliability and the confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the hypothesized four-factor model. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses supported invariance of factor loadings across the two samples. The between-network test also indicated that these achievement goals correlated systematically with different aspects of students’ self-concepts. These findings support the applicability of the ISM among Hong Kong Chinese and Filipino students.

Cross-cultural validation of the five-factor structure of social goals: A Filipino investigation

Ronnel B. King et al. — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:30:10 PDT

The aim of the present study was to test the cross-cultural validity of the five-factor structure of social goals that Dowson and McInerney proposed. Using both between-network and within-network approaches to construct validation, 1,147 Filipino high school students participated in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the five-factor model provided the best fit to the data compared with a series of alternative models. In addition, the five types of social goals also showed meaningful relationships to theoretically relevant constructs. Taken together, this study supports the applicability of the five-factor structure of social goals among Filipino respondents.

All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait: Validating the Chinese Version of the Academic Delay of Gratification Scale (ADOGS)

Ronnel B. King et al. — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:04:01 PDT

The objective of this study was to examine the reliability and construct validity of the Chinese translation of the Academic Delay of Gratification Scale (ADOGS; Bembenutty & Karabenick, 1998). This scale measures the degree to which students postpone immediately available opportunities to satisfy their impulses in order to pursue important goals that are temporally remote but ostensibly more important. Chinese university students from Mainland China (N = 187) completed the ADOGS. Both within-network and between-network approaches to construct validation were adopted in the study. Responses to this questionnaire are shown to have good internal consistency reliability and support is provided for its construct validity in terms of its factorial structure and correlations with other educational outcomes. In addition, multi-group confirmatory factor analysis also indicated invariance of the instrument across males and females. Implications for cross-cultural research are discussed.

Can social goals enrich our understanding of students' motivational goals?

Ronnel B. King et al. — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:55:38 PDT

Achievement goal theory has emerged as a dominant paradigm for understanding student motivation. However, its focus on mastery and performance goals as central constructs has led to a neglect of the role of social goals in motivating students. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different kinds of social goals (social affiliation and social concern goals) on various types of educational outcomes. Results indicate that even after controlling for the effects of the oft-examined mastery and performance goals, social goals were still able to predict additional variance in the outcomes of interest. Social concern goals were shown be an adaptive type of social goal. Implications for future research are discussed.