Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

School socio-economic status and student socio-academic achievement goals in upper secondary contexts

  • Published:
Social Psychology of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In recent years motivational researchers have spent considerable time examining race/ethnicity and gender differences in academic and social achievement goals, but little time examining the influence of socioeconomic status (SES). This lack of attention is surprising given that both student motivation and SES have been shown to predict academic attainment. This study surveyed the academic and social achievement goal orientations of 16–17 year old students (n = 130) attending two schools with markedly different socioeconomic profiles. Analyses showed significant differences between the schools on the academic achievement goal scales, with students at the low SES school less likely to endorse adaptive combinations of mastery and performance goals than their high SES counterparts. Students who did not expect to finish senior high school also endorsed social goals that may manifest as disruptive behaviours in the classroom. The findings suggest that SES may influence the adoption of academic achievement goals but not necessarily social achievement goals. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ames, C. (1984). Competitive, cooperative and individualistic goal structures: A cognitive-motivational analysis. In R. Ames & C. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education (Vol. 1, pp. 177–207). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ames, C. (1992). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3), 261–271. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.84.3.261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 260–267. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer, J. (2009). Motivational implications of the quality teaching model in New South Wales. In C. Ng & P. D. Renshaw (Eds.), Reforming learning: Concepts, issues and practice in the Asia-Pacific region (pp. 277–291). Amsterdam: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2011). Fact sheet about ICSEA. Retrieved June 16, 2015, from http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/About__ICSEA.pdf.

  • Barkoukis, V., Ntoumanis, N., & Nikitaras, N. (2007). Comparing dichotomous and trichotomous approaches to achievement goal theory: An example using motivational regulations as outcome variables. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 77(3), 683–702. doi:10.1348/000709906x171901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Battin-Pearson, S., Newcomb, M. D., Abbott, R. D., Hill, K. G., Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (2000). Predictors of early high school drop-out: A test of five theories. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 568–582. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.92.3.568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, N., & Archer, J. (2015). The relationship between social class and students’ academic achievement goals: Three hypotheses. In C. M. Rubie-Davies, J. M. Stephens, & P. Watson (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of social psychology of the classroom (pp. 31–41). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R., & Corwyn, R. (2002). Socioeconomic status and child development. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 371–399. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.53.100901.135233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, R., Corwyn, R., & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (1996). Life at home: Same time, different places. Early development and parenting, 5(4), 251–269. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0917(199612)5:4%3C251::AID-EDP137%3E3.0.CO;2-I.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brophy, J. (2005). Goal theorists should move on from performance goals. Educational Psychologist, 40(3), 167–176. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4003_3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council of Australian Governments. (2008). National education agreement: Baseline performance report for 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2015, from http://www.coagreformcouncil.gov.au/reports/docs/education_agreement_report_2008.pdf.

  • Covington, M. (2000). Goal theory, motivation and school achievement: An integrative review. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 171–200. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.51.1.171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cury, F., Da Fonseca, D., Rufo, M., & Sarrazin, P. (2002). Perceptions of competence, implicit theory of ability, perception of motivational climate, and achievement goals: A test of the trichotomous conceptualization of endorsement of achievement motivation in the physical education setting. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 95(1), 233–244. doi:10.2466/pms.2002.95.1.233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dowson, M., & McInerney, D. (2001). Psychological parameters of students’ social and work avoidance goals: A qualitative investigation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 35–42. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C. (1986). Motivational processes affecting learning. American Psychologist, 41(10), 1040–1048. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.41.10.1040.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck, C., & Leggett, E. (1988). A social-cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review, 95(2), 256–273. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.95.2.256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34(3), 169–189. doi:10.1207/s15326985ep3403_3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A., & Harackiewicz, J. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(3), 461–475. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.461.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A., & Moller, A. (2003). Performance-approach goals: Good or bad forms of regulation? International Journal of Educational Research, 39(4–5), 339–356. doi:10.1016/j.ijer.2004.06.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A., & Murayama, K. (2008). On the measurement of achievement goals: Critique, illustration, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 613–628. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A., Murayama, K., & Pekrun, R. (2011). A 3 × 2 achievement goal model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(3), 632–648. doi:10.1037/a0023952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friedel, J. M., Cortina, K. S., Turner, J. C., & Midgley, C. (2007). Achievement goals, efficacy beliefs and coping strategies in mathematics: The roles of perceived parent and teacher goal emphases. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(3), 434–458. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.10.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginsburg, G. S., & Bronstein, P. (1993). Family factors related to children’s intrinsic/extrinsic motivational orientation and academic performance. Child Development, 64(5), 1461–1474. doi:10.2307/1131546.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottfried, A., Fleming, J., & Gottfried, A. (1998). Role of cognitively stimulating home environment in children’s academic intrinsic motivation: A longitudinal study. Child Development, 69(5), 1448–1460. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1998.tb06223.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gutman, L. M. (2006). How student and parent goal orientations and classroom goal structures influence the math achievement of African Americans during the high school transition. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 31(1), 44–63. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2005.01.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henry, P. J. (2008). College sophomores in the laboratory redux: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology’s view of the nature of prejudice. Psychological Inquiry, 19(2), 49–71. doi:10.1080/10478400802049936.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodis, F. A., Meyer, L. H., McClure, J., Weir, K. F., & Walkey, F. H. (2011). A longitudinal investigation of motivation and secondary school achievement using growth mixture modeling. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 312–323. doi:10.1037/a0022547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoff-Ginsberg, E. (1991). Mother-child conversation in different social classes and communicative settings. Child Development, 62(4), 782–796. doi:10.2307/1131177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horst, S. J., Finney, S. J., & Barron, K. E. (2007). Moving beyond academic achievement goal measures: A study of social achievement goals. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 32(4), 667–698. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2006.10.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, C. (2012). Discriminant and criterion-related validity of achievement goals in predicting academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(1), 48–73. doi:10.1037/a0026223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hulleman, C., Schrager, S., Bodmann, S., & Harackiewicz, J. (2010). A meta-analytic review of achievement goal measures: Different labels for the same constructs or different constructs with similar labels? Psychological Bulletin, 136(3), 422–449. doi:10.1037/a0018947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarvinen, D., & Nicholls, J. (1996). Adolescents’ social goals, beliefs about the causes of social success, and satisfaction in peer ratings. Developmental Psychology, 32(3), 435–441. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.32.3.435.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, A., Gheen, M., & Midgley, C. (2002). Classroom goal structure and student disruptive behaviour. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(2), 191–211. doi:10.1348/000709902158847.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J.-I., Schallert, D., & Kim, M. (2010). An integrative cultural view of achievement motivation: Parental and classroom predictors of children’s goal orientations when learning mathematics in Korea. Journal of Educational Psychology, 102(2), 418–437. doi:10.1037/a0018676.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • King, R., & Watkins, D. (2011). “Socializing” achievement goal theory: The need for social goals. Psychological Studies, 57(1), 112–116. doi:10.1007/s12646-011-0140-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korpershoek, H., Kuyper, H., & van der Werf, G. (2015). Differences in students’ school motivation: A latent class modelling approach. Social Psychology of Education, 18(1), 137–163. doi:10.1007/s11218-014-9274-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, E., Gebhardt, W., & Garnefski, N. (2008). Adolescent goal content and pursuit: A review of the literature from the past 16 years. Developmental Review, 28(4), 421–460. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2008.03.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Midgley, C., Kaplan, A., & Middleton, M. (2001). Performance-approach goals: Good for what, for whom, under what circumstances, and at what cost? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 77–86. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mouratidou, K., Barkoukis, V., & Rizos, S. (2012). Achievement goals and moral competence in sport: Examining the moderating role of demographic characteristics. European Psychologist, 17(1), 34–43. doi:10.1027/1016-9040/a000043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murayama, K., Elliot, A., & Yamagata, S. (2011). Separation of performance-approach and performance-avoidance achievement goals: A broader analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(1), 238–256. doi:10.1037/a0021948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, R. M., & DeBacker, T. K. (2008). Achievement motivation in adolescents: The role of peer climate and best friends. Journal of Experimental Education, 76(2), 170–189. doi:10.3200/JEXE.76.2.170-190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls, J. (1984). Achievement motivation: Conceptions of ability, subjective experience, task choice, and performance. Psychological Review, 91, 328–346. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.91.3.328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, H., Kaplan, A., & Ryan, A. (2011). Positive classroom motivational environments: Convergence between mastery goal structure and classroom social climate. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103(2), 367–382. doi:10.1037/a0023311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. (2000). Multiple goals, multiple pathways: The role of goal orientation in learning and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92(3), 544–555. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.92.3.544.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose, A. J., Swenson, L. P., & Waller, E. M. (2004). Overt and relational aggression and perceived popularity: Developmental differences in concurrent and prospective relations. Developmental Psychology, 40(3), 378–387. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.40.3.378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, A., & Hopkins, N. (2003). Achievement goals in the social domain. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (unpublished manuscript).

  • Ryan, A., & Shim, S. (2006). Social achievement goals: The nature and consequences of different orientations toward social competence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(9), 1246–1263. doi:10.1177/0146167206289345.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, A., & Shim, S. (2008). An exploration of young adolescents’ social achievement goals and social adjustment in middle school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 672–687. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.672.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sears, D. O. (1986). College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology’s view of human nature. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(3), 515–530. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.51.3.515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shim, S., & Ryan, A. (2012). What do students want socially when they arrive at college? Implications of social achievement goals for social behaviors and adjustment during the first semester of college. Motivation and Emotion, 36(4), 504–515. doi:10.1007/s11031-011-9272-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sirin, S. R. (2005). Socioeconomic status and academic achievement: A meta-analytic review of research. Review of Educational Research, 75(3), 417–453. doi:10.3102/00346543075003417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, L., & Sinclair, K. (2005). Empirical evidence for multiple goals: A gender-based, senior high school student perspective. Australian Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 5, 55–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strenze, T. (2007). Intelligence and socioeconomic success: A meta-analytic review of longitudinal research. Intelligence, 35(5), 401–426. doi:10.1016/J.Intell.2006.09.004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urdan, T., & Maehr, M. (1995). Beyond a two-goal theory of motivation and achievement: A case for social goals. Review of Educational Research, 65(3), 213–243. doi:10.3102/00346543065003213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urdan, T., Midgley, C., & Anderman, E. M. (1998). The role of classroom goal structure in students’ use of self-handicapping strategies. American Educational Research Journal, 35(1), 101–122. doi:10.3102/00028312035001101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wentzel, K. (1998). Social relationships and motivation in middle school: The role of parents, teachers, and peers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(2), 202–209. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.90.2.202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wentzel, K., Barry, C., & Caldwell, K. (2004). Friendships in middle school: Influences on motivation and school adjustment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 195–203. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolters, C. (2004). Advancing achievement goal theory: Using goal structures and goal orientations to predict students’ motivation, cognition, and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 236–250. doi:10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.236.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Nathan Berger & Jennifer Archer

Authors
  1. Nathan Berger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jennifer Archer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan Berger.

Appendix

Appendix

1.1 Social achievement goal items

Items adapted from Horst et al. (2007).

  • Social mastery-approach

    1. 1.

      I want to have friends who really understand each other.

    2. 2.

      I want to have friends who truly care about each other.

    3. 3.

      I want to improve my relationships with my friends. [deleted]

    4. 4.

      I want to have friends who enjoy spending time with each other.

    5. 5.

      I want to have friends who are interested in one another.

  • Social performance-approach

    1. 6.

      I want to impress other people in most social situations.

    2. 7.

      I want to be seen as having lots of friends.

    3. 8.

      I want to be friends with popular people.

    4. 9.

      I want other people to see me as a popular person.

  • Social performance-avoid

    1. 10.

      I want to avoid doing things that would cause others to make fun of me.

    2. 11

      I don’t want other people to think I’m a loser.

    3. 12.

      I try not to make a fool of myself when I am out with people.

    4. 13.

      I don’t want to do things that would make others dislike me.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Berger, N., Archer, J. School socio-economic status and student socio-academic achievement goals in upper secondary contexts. Soc Psychol Educ 19, 175–194 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9324-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9324-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation