To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context
Academic challenges and failure are inevitable in pursuit of higher education. According to the self-worth theory, trying hard but failing implies low ability that would be a threat to personal worth, thus preventing students from approaching academic challenges. Nevertheless, previous studies have...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1046775/full |
| _version_ | 1797946623967363072 |
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| author | Guan Ying Li Bih-Jen Fwu Tong-Rong Yang Yi-Kai Chen |
| author_facet | Guan Ying Li Bih-Jen Fwu Tong-Rong Yang Yi-Kai Chen |
| author_sort | Guan Ying Li |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Academic challenges and failure are inevitable in pursuit of higher education. According to the self-worth theory, trying hard but failing implies low ability that would be a threat to personal worth, thus preventing students from approaching academic challenges. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that students in the Confucian-heritage contexts (CHCs) tend to persist rather than quit in the face of academic failure. According to the role obligation theory of self-cultivation (ROT), the CHC learners would perceive academic failure from personal and interpersonal perspectives. The former refers to personal obligations to exert oneself toward the ultimate good, and the latter refers to fulfilling filial obligations to parents by achieving academic excellence. Given the fundamental differences in learners’ perceptions of academic failure between the CHCs and the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) contexts, this study examined the applicability of the quadripolar model of achievement motivation based on the self-worth theory in a CHC higher education institution. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a two-factor model of fear of failure, including a personal and an interpersonal subfactor. Latent class analysis (LCA) showed that apart from the four existing categories of the quadripolar model, two additional CHC categories emerged and constituted half of the sample. The two CHC categories demonstrated different learner characteristics compared with their corresponding quadripolar categories in terms of levels of emotional distress and academic risk-taking tendency. The results may help debunk the myth that learner characteristics in the CHCs are identical to those observed in the WEIRD contexts. The fundamental differences in fear of failure further indicated the inadequacy of the self-worth theory in explaining achievement motivation in the CHCs where relationalism and role obligations are significant parts of the cultural traditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:14:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4658a8f821d34cfba0538f2ee8b7079f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:14:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-4658a8f821d34cfba0538f2ee8b7079f2023-01-20T12:51:55ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-01-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.10467751046775To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage contextGuan Ying Li0Bih-Jen Fwu1Tong-Rong Yang2Yi-Kai Chen3Center for Teaching and Learning Development & Center for General Education, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanCenter for Teaching and Learning Development & Center for Teacher Education, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanDepartment of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, TaiwanAcademic challenges and failure are inevitable in pursuit of higher education. According to the self-worth theory, trying hard but failing implies low ability that would be a threat to personal worth, thus preventing students from approaching academic challenges. Nevertheless, previous studies have shown that students in the Confucian-heritage contexts (CHCs) tend to persist rather than quit in the face of academic failure. According to the role obligation theory of self-cultivation (ROT), the CHC learners would perceive academic failure from personal and interpersonal perspectives. The former refers to personal obligations to exert oneself toward the ultimate good, and the latter refers to fulfilling filial obligations to parents by achieving academic excellence. Given the fundamental differences in learners’ perceptions of academic failure between the CHCs and the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) contexts, this study examined the applicability of the quadripolar model of achievement motivation based on the self-worth theory in a CHC higher education institution. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported a two-factor model of fear of failure, including a personal and an interpersonal subfactor. Latent class analysis (LCA) showed that apart from the four existing categories of the quadripolar model, two additional CHC categories emerged and constituted half of the sample. The two CHC categories demonstrated different learner characteristics compared with their corresponding quadripolar categories in terms of levels of emotional distress and academic risk-taking tendency. The results may help debunk the myth that learner characteristics in the CHCs are identical to those observed in the WEIRD contexts. The fundamental differences in fear of failure further indicated the inadequacy of the self-worth theory in explaining achievement motivation in the CHCs where relationalism and role obligations are significant parts of the cultural traditions.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1046775/fullfear of failurehope of successacademic risk-takingemotional distressindebtedness |
| spellingShingle | Guan Ying Li Bih-Jen Fwu Tong-Rong Yang Yi-Kai Chen To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context Frontiers in Psychology fear of failure hope of success academic risk-taking emotional distress indebtedness |
| title | To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context |
| title_full | To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context |
| title_fullStr | To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context |
| title_full_unstemmed | To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context |
| title_short | To approach or to avoid: The quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a Confucian-heritage context |
| title_sort | to approach or to avoid the quadripolar model of achievement motivation revisited in a confucian heritage context |
| topic | fear of failure hope of success academic risk-taking emotional distress indebtedness |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1046775/full |
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