VALIDATION OF THE ACADEMIC MOTIVATION SCALE IN A SAMPLE OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Abstract

Academic motivation implies an internal process that initiates and maintains activities aimed at reaching certain academic goals. The objective of this research was to explore the psychometric characteristics of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS). The sample comprised 157 participants, high school students in the Sarajevo Canton. An item analysis indicated that discriminatory validity and reliability indices were satisfactory for all items. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for separate subscales were ranging from 0.77 to 0.84, and for the whole instrument α = 0.912. An exploratory factor analysis specified 5 factors, with 66.53% of the variance explained. After a Equamax rotation with Kaiser normalization we reached the solution whereby there are two subscales of intrinsic motivation – for knowledge and stimulation- and they present the first factor. The second factor is composed of the subscales of extrinsic motivation – imposed and externally regulated. The third factor are the items of a-motivation, the fourth the items of intrinsic motivation for achievement, and the fifth the items of extrinsic internalized motivation. A confirmatory factor analysis did not offer a more interpretable solution. After separate factor analyses of the subscales of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, we got a satisfactory solution whereby the three subscales of intrinsic and three of extrinsic motivation might be distinguished. In conclusion, we can say that this measuring instrument has satisfactory metric characteristics and that the existence of the following seven factors has been partially confirmed: intrinsic motivation (for knowledge, achievement, stimulation), extrinsic motivation (imposed, internalized, externally regulated) and a-motivation.

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