The relationship between future time perspective, self-efficacy and risky sexual behaviour in the Black youth of central South Africa.

BACKGROUND: An interest exists in understanding why adolescents partake in risky sexual behaviours, as well as the risk and protective practices associated with risky sexual behaviour. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the moderator effect of future time perspective in the relationship between self-efficacy and risky sexual behaviour. METHODS: A random cluster consisting of 467 learners from English medium high schools of central South Africa participated in this study. The participants' risky sexual behaviour, self-efficacy and future time perspective were measured with the Perceptions of HIV/AIDS Risk Survey, Generalised Perceived Self-efficacy Scale and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, respectively. Product term regression analysis was performed. RESULTS: It was found that both self-efficacy and future time perspective were negatively related to risky sexual behaviour. No moderating effect was found for future time perspective in the relationship between self-efficacy and risky sexual behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: Self-efficacy and future time perspective were identified as qualities that protect adolescents from engaging in risky sexual behaviours. This finding can be useful in developing prevention programmes. Intervention programmes aimed at the youth should foster a sense of hope and possibility about the future and the development of goals and aspirations to prevent risky behaviour.

The Portuguese Validation of the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale: Concurrent and Longitudinal Relations to Well-being and Ill-being.

This research comprises two studies based on Self Determination Theory. In Study 1, we translate and examine the factor structure of the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS; Chen, Vansteenkiste et al., 2015) in a sample of Portuguese undergraduate students. Further, in Study 2 we used an independent longitudinal sample of 12th grade students to inspect whether the six subscales differently predict adjustment over time. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that a six-factor solution best fitted the BPNSFS data. Subsequent structural equation modelling indicated that the dimensions of need satisfaction and need frustration predicted unique variance in participants' well-being and ill-being over time, even after controlling for reciprocal and baseline effects. Taken together the findings support the 6-factor multidimensional structure of the BPNSFS and provide extensive support for the distinction between the satisfaction and frustration dimensions of needs, suggesting that they should be measured and interpreted as relatively distinct motivational constructs.

Perceived Parenting and Basic Need Satisfaction among Portuguese Adolescents.

We examined the psychometric properties of the Parenting Questionnaire in a sample of Portuguese high school students. Two measurement models were specified. Model 1m,f specifies a bi-dimensional structure of parental need-support and behavioral control. Model 2m,f proposes a tripartite structure of parental need-support, psychological control and behavioral control. Model 2m,f. best-fitted the data, being also supported in terms of convergent, discriminant validity. Regression results found the unique effect of autonomy-support (M2mr, b = .25 p < .001; M2fr, b = .14 p < .01), responsiveness-warmth (Model 2mr, b = .19, p .05). Notably, psychological control predicted low need-satisfaction (M2mr: b = -.10) and moderated of the positive effect of parental need-support on need-satisfaction, M2mr: F(3, 367) = 11.62, p < .001. Psychological control and need-support also moderated the positive effect of behavior control on competence satisfaction, with parental need-support amplifying this effect and psychological control buffering it. Overall the findings support the substantive distinction between the parenting dimensions, suggesting that need-satisfaction is enhanced by need-supportive and behavioural control and undermined by psychological control.

Perceived parenting and basic need satisfaction among Portuguese adolescents

We examined the psychometric properties of the Parenting Questionnaire in a sample of Portuguese high school students. Two measurement models were specified. Model 1m,f specifies a bi-dimensional structure of parental need-support and behavioral control. Model 2m,f proposes a tripartite structure of parental need-support, psychological control and behavioral control. Model 2 m,f. best-fitted the data, being also supported in terms of convergent, discriminant validity. Regression results found the unique effect of autonomy-support (M2mr, b = .25 p < .001; M2fr, b = .14 p < .01), responsiveness-warmth (Model 2mr, b = .19, p < .001; Model 2fr, b = .13 p < .05) and behavior control on basic need satisfaction (Model 2mr:b = .14 p < .05), but a non-significant effect of psychological control on need-frustration (p > .05). Notably, psychological control predicted low need-satisfaction (M2mr: b = -.10) and moderated of the positive effect of parental need-support on need-satisfaction, M2mr: F(3, 367) = 11.62, p < .001. Psychological control and need-support also moderated the positive effect of behavior control on competence satisfaction, with parental need-support amplifying this effect and psychological control buffering it. Overall the findings support the substantive distinction between the parenting dimensions, suggesting that need-satisfaction is enhanced by need-supportive and behavioural control and undermined by psychological control (AU)

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The nature and dimensions of achievement goals: mastery, evaluation, competition, and self-presentation goals

The present study aimed to clarify the nature and dimensions of achievement goals and to examine structural differences in students' goals across school levels. Participants were 134 students from 5th and 6th grades, and 423 students from 7th to 9th grades. A variety of achievement goals were assessed, including mastery goals and several performance related goals representing three main dimensions: competition, self-presentation, and valence. Two alternative models were tested, using confirmatory factor analysis. For middle-school students a three factor model with presentation, competition, and simple evaluation/mastery goals, was found χ²(132, N = 134) = 160.9, p < .001; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .04, 95%CI [.02 - .06]. In the junior-high sample, one avoidance factor, one competition factor, and a simple evaluation/mastery factor, best fitted the data χ²(114, N = 423) = 269.8638 p < .001; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .06, 95%CI [.05 - .07] thus suggesting that distinct dimensions organize younger and older students' motivation. However, common to both grade levels was the existence of (a) separate but low incidence competition goals, and (b) simple evaluation goals, which encompass neither self-presentation nor competition, and are closely linked to mastery goals. Moreover, significant differences were found in the relative importance attached by students to the different types of goals (p < .001 for all comparisons), both at middle-school F(2, 266) = 220.98; p < .001; η2 = .624) and at junior-high school F(2, 820) = 464.4; p < .001; η2 = .531 (AU)

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Factors contributing to the risk of HIV infection in rural school-going adolescents.

The objective of this study was to determine the factors that increase the risk of HIV infection in rural school-going adolescents and young adults. This was a cross-sectional study of 430 secondary school students (47.4% boys and 52.6% girls) from two rural schools in South Africa. Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire on demographic information, sources of HIV/AIDS information, HIV knowledge, sexual behaviors, communication and negotiation skills, self-efficacy to refuse sex, peer influence and time perspective. Out of 113 (27.2%) participants who reported being sexually active, about 48% reported having had sex before the age of 15 and 42.2% reported penetrative sex with more than one partner in their lifetime. Only 44.8% of them reported consistent and regular use of condoms for every sexual encounter. Peer influence (OR = 3.01 (95% CI = 1.97-4.60)), gender difference (OR = 6.60 (95% CI = 1.62-26.84)) and lack of HIV information (OR = 1.22 (95% CI = 1.03-1.44)) influenced the sexual risk behaviors of the adolescents. Greater numbers of school-going adolescents in rural areas are sexually active. Peer influence, especially in boys, is a factor that increases the preponderance of risky sexual behaviors in adolescents. Positively, adolescents with high knowledge of HIV infection are more likely to use condoms for every sexual encounter. There is a need to strengthen comprehensive sexual health education and youth-friendly HIV prevention strategies to promote abstinence and safe sexual behaviors, especially among boys.

Enriching the hierarchical model of achievement motivation: autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals.

BACKGROUND: The hierarchical model of achievement motivation presumes that achievement goals channel the achievement motives of need for achievement and fear of failure towards motivational outcomes. Yet, less is known whether autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals can serve as additional pathways between achievement motives and outcomes. AIMS: We tested whether mastery approach, performance approach, and performance avoidance goals and their underlying autonomous and controlling reasons would jointly explain the relation between achievement motives (i.e., fear of failure and need for achievement) and learning strategies (Study 1). Additionally, we examined whether the autonomous and controlling reasons underlying learners' dominant achievement goal would account for the link between achievement motives and the educational outcomes of learning strategies and cheating (Study 2). SAMPLE: Six hundred and six Greek adolescent students (Mage = 15.05, SD = 1.43) and 435 university students (Mage M = 20.51, SD = 2.80) participated in studies 1 and 2, respectively. METHOD: In both studies, a correlational design was used and the hypotheses were tested via path modelling. RESULTS: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying the pursuit of achievement goals mediated, respectively, the relation of need for achievement and fear of failure to aspects of learning outcomes. CONCLUSION: Autonomous and controlling reasons underlying achievement goals could further explain learners' functioning in achievement settings.

Examining correlates of game-to-game variation in volleyball players' achievement goal pursuit and underlying autonomous and controlling reasons.

In the current study we aimed to examine the antecedents and outcomes associated with the variability in competitive volleyball players' (N = 67; Mage = 19.45; SD = 5.13) situational achievement goal pursuit and its underlying autonomous and controlling reasons. Players were followed during six consecutive games and data were analyzed through multilevel modeling. Players' dominant contextual goal pursuit reported at the onset of the study related to their situational (i.e., game-specific) goal pursuit. Further, variation in game-to-game mastery-approach goal pursuit, as compared with the pursuit of other achievement goals, related to variation in prosocial behavior. Finally, autonomous reasons underlying situational mastery-approach goal pursuit related positively to games-specific prosocial behavior, enjoyment, and performance satisfaction. The discussion emphasizes the necessity to study players' game-to-game motivational dynamics and the reasons underlying players' achievement goal pursuit.

The nature and dimensions of achievement goals: mastery, evaluation, competition, and self-presentation goals.

The present study aimed to clarify the nature and dimensions of achievement goals and to examine structural differences in students' goals across school levels. Participants were 134 students from 5th and 6th grades, and 423 students from 7th to 9th grades. A variety of achievement goals were assessed, including mastery goals and several performance-related goals representing three main dimensions: competition, self-presentation, and valence. Two alternative models were tested, using confirmatory factor analysis. For middle-school students a three factor model with presentation, competition, and simple evaluation/mastery goals, was found χ²(132, N = 134) = 160.9, p < .001; CFI = .94; RMSEA = .04, 95%CI [.02 - .06]. In the junior-high sample, one avoidance factor, one competition factor, and a simple evaluation/mastery factor, best fitted the data χ²(114, N = 423) = 269.8638 p < .001; CFI = .93; RMSEA = .06, 95%CI [.05 - .07] thus suggesting that distinct dimensions organize younger and older students' motivation. However, common to both grade levels was the existence of (a) separate but low incidence competition goals, and (b) simple evaluation goals, which encompass neither self-presentation nor competition, and are closely linked to mastery goals. Moreover, significant differences were found in the relative importance attached by students to the different types of goals (p < .001 for all comparisons), both at middle-school F(2, 266) = 220.98; p < .001; η2 = .624) and at junior-high school F(2, 820) = 464.4; p < .001; η2 = .531.

How you provide corrective feedback makes a difference: the motivating role of communicating in an autonomy-supporting way.

We relied on self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 2000) to investigate to what extent autonomy-supporting corrective feedback (i.e., feedback that coaches communicate to their athletes after poor performance or mistakes) is associated with athletes' optimal motivation and well-being. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a cross-sectional study with 337 (67.1% males) Greek adolescent athletes (age M = 15.59, SD = 2.37) from various sports. Aligned with SDT, we found through path analysis that an autonomy-supporting versus controlling communication style was positively related to future intentions to persist and well-being and negatively related to ill-being. These relations were partially mediated by the perceived legitimacy of the corrective feedback (i.e., the degree of acceptance of corrective feedback), and, in turn, by intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and external regulation for doing sports. Results indicate that autonomy-supporting feedback can be still motivating even in cases in which such feedback conveys messages of still too low competence.

Detaching reasons from aims: fair play and well-being in soccer as a function of pursuing performance-approach goals for autonomous or controlling reasons.

In two cross-sectional studies we investigated whether soccer players' well-being (Study 1) and moral functioning (Studies 1 and 2) is related to performance-approach goals and to the autonomous and controlling reasons underlying their pursuit. In support of our hypotheses, we found in Study 1 that autonomous reasons were positively associated with vitality and positive affect, whereas controlling reasons were positively related to negative affect and mostly unrelated to indicators of morality. To investigate the lack of systematic association with moral outcomes, we explored in Study 2 whether performance-approach goals or their underlying reasons would yield an indirect relation to moral outcomes through their association with players' objectifying attitude-their tendency to depersonalize their opponents. Structural equation modeling showed that controlling reasons for performance-approach goals were positively associated with an objectifying attitude, which in turn was positively associated to unfair functioning. Results are discussed within the achievement goal perspective (Elliot, 2005) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

Estudie bien en la escuela, es importante para su futuro. Consecuencias motivacionales de la percepción de la utilidad / Study well in school, it is important for their future. Motivational consequences of the perception of the usefulness

El presente artículo se ocupa de los desarrollos conceptuales y de las investigaciones recientes en materia de perspectiva futura y de la percepción de la utilidad de una actividad en curso para el futuro. Se ha constatado que una perspectiva futura extensa y una percepción adecuada de la utilidad del comportamiento actual están asociadas de una elevada motivación, a un aprendizaje más profundo a un mejor rendimiento y a una mayor persistencia. Además, por su importancia, se considera la especificidad y el contenido de las metas visualizadas así como el contexto interpersonal en el cual se promociona la utilidad. En fin, los autores extraen implicaciones prácticas.

Le présent article fait état des développements conceptuels et des recherches récentes en matière de perspective future et de perception de l´utilité d’ une activité en cours pour l’ avenir. Il appert qu’ une perspective future étendue et une perception adequate de l’ utilité du comportement acutel sont associées à une motivation rehausée, à un apprentissage plus profound, à une meilleure performance et à une plus grande persistence. De plus, il importe de considerer la spécificité et le contenu des buts visés ainsi que le contexte interpersonnel dans lequel on fait la promotion de l’ utilité. Enfin, les auturs dégagent des implications pratiques.

An overview of conceptual development and of recent empirical research in the domain of perceived utility (instrumentality) and future time perspective is provided. It is demonstrated that having a deep future time perspective and increasing the utility of one’s present behavior are associated with enhanced motivation, deeper learning, better performance and mote intense persistence. Moreover, it is important to consider the degree of specificity and the content of future goal and the interpersonal context in which the utility of the present activity is made clear. Practical implications are given.

The motivating role of positive feedback in sport and physical education: evidence for a motivational model.

Based on self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), an experimental study with middle school students participating in a physical education task and a correlational study with highly talented sport students investigated the motivating role of positive competence feedback on participants' well-being, performance, and intention to participate. In Study 1, structural equation modeling favored the hypothesized motivational model, in which, after controlling for pretask perceived competence and competence valuation, feedback positively predicted competence satisfaction, which in turn predicted higher levels of vitality and greater intentions to participate, through the mediation of autonomous motivation. No effects on performance were found. Study 2 further showed that autonomous motivation mediated the relation between competence satisfaction and well-being, whereas a motivation mediated the negative relation between competence satisfaction and ill-being and rated performance. The discussion focuses on the motivational role of competence feedback in sports and physical education settings.

Conceptualizing parental autonomy support: adolescent perceptions of promotion of independence versus promotion of volitional functioning.

In current research on parenting, 2 ways of conceptualizing perceived parental autonomy support can be distinguished. Parental autonomy support can be defined in terms of promotion of independence (PI) or in terms of promotion of volitional functioning (PVF). This study aimed to establish the empirical distinctiveness of both conceptualizations and to examine their relative contribution to the prediction of adolescents' adjustment. The authors conducted 3 studies, 2 which sampled late adolescents (N=396, mean age=18.70 years, 79% female; and N=495, mean age=19.30 years, 74% female, respectively) and 1 which sampled middle adolescents (N=153, mean age=15.12 years, 70% female). Factor analyses pointed to the distinction between perceived PVF and PI. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that whereas perceived PVF uniquely predicted adjustment (ps<.01), perceived PI did not (ps>.05). SEM also demonstrated that adolescents' self-determined functioning significantly mediates the relationship between perceived parental PVF and adjustment (ps<.001). Results are discussed in terms of the type of autonomy that parents might want to facilitate among their adolescents to foster well-being.

Future goal setting, task motivation and learning of minority and non-minority students in Dutch schools.

BACKGROUND: Cross-cultural research on minority school achievement yields mixed findings on the motivational impact of future goal setting for students from disadvantaged minority groups. Relevant and recent motivational research, integrating Future Time Perspective Theory with Self-Determination Theory, has not yet been validated among minority students. AIMS: To replicate across cultures the known motivational benefits of perceived instrumentality and internal regulation by distant future goals; to clarify when and how the future motivates minority students' educational performance. SAMPLE: Participants in this study were 279 minority students (100 of Turkish and 179 of Moroccan origin) and 229 native Dutch students in Dutch secondary schools. METHODS: Participants rated the importance of future goals, their perceptions of instrumentality, their task motivation and learning strategies. Dependent measures and their functional relations with future goal setting were simultaneously validated across minority and non-minority students, using structural equation modelling in multiple groups. RESULTS: As expected, Positive Perceived Instrumentality for the future increases task motivation and (indirectly) adaptive learning of both minority and non-minority students. But especially internally regulating future goals are strongly related to more task motivation and indirectly to more adaptive learning strategies. CONCLUSION: Our findings throw new light on the role of future goal setting in minority school careers: distant future goals enhance minority and non-minority students' motivation and learning, if students perceive positive instrumentality and if their schoolwork is internally regulated by future goals.

La Teoría de Orientación a la Meta, estrategias de aprendizaje y rendimiento académico en estudiantes de secundaria de Lima / The theory of goal orientation, learning strategies and academic achievement in high school students in Lima

En la presente investigación se ha empleado la Teoría de Orientación a la Meta para estudiar el rol que tiene la motivación de los estudiantes en el contexto educativo en una muestra de 1505 estudiantes de secundaria de Lima. En esta investigación se estudiaron tres tipos de metas: orientados al aprendizaje, de aproximación al rendimiento y de evitación al rendimiento. La evidencia empírica proviene básicamente de estudios realizados con muestras de estudiantes norteamericanos de clase media. Por lo tanto nuestro objetivo fue encontrar si estos hallazgos eran también válidos en una muestra de estudiantes peruanos, para lo cual examinamos la relación entre la Orientación a la Meta de los estudiantes, las estrategias de aprendizaje y el rendimiento académico.

To investigate the role of student motivation in the educational context, the Goal Orientation Theory was employed in a simple of 1505 secondary students in Lima. In the present investigation three types of goals were studied: learning oriented, performance approach and performance avoidance oriented. The empirical evidence is drawn basically from studies with samples of North American middleclass students. Therefore, our objective was to find if this evidence was also valid for a sample of Peruvian students examining the relation among students’ goal orientation, learning strategies and academic performance.

Understanding unemployed people's job search behaviour, unemployment experience and well-being: a comparison of expectancy-value theory and self-determination theory.

Previous unemployment research has directly tested hypotheses derived from expectancy-value theory (EVT; Feather, 1982, 1990), but no comparative analysis has been executed with another motivational framework. In one large study with 446 unemployed people, separate analyses provided good evidence for predictions derived from both EVT and self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). Comparative analyses indicated that the type of people's job search motivation, as conceptualized through the notions of autonomous versus controlled motivation within SDT, is an important predictor of people's unemployment experience and wellbeing, beyond people's strength of motivation assessed within EVT through expectancies of finding a job and employment value. The importance of simultaneously testing two theoretical frameworks is discussed.

Examining the motivational impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic goal framing and autonomy-supportive versus internally controlling communication style on early adolescents' academic achievement.

The present experimental research examined whether framing early adolescents' (11- to 12-year-olds) learning activity in terms of the attainment of an extrinsic (i.e., physical attractiveness) versus intrinsic (i.e., health) goal and communicating these different goal contents in an internally controlling versus autonomy-supportive way affect performance. Both conceptual and rote learning were assessed. Three experimental field studies, 2 among obese and 1 among nonobese participants, confirmed the hypothesis that extrinsic goal framing and internal control undermine conceptual (but not rote) learning, even in comparison with a control group. Study 3 indicated that the positive effect of intrinsic goal framing on conceptual learning was mediated by task involvement, whereas the positive effect of autonomy-supportive communication style on conceptual learning was mediated by relative autonomous motivation.

Motivating learning, performance, and persistence: the synergistic effects of intrinsic goal contents and autonomy-supportive contexts.

Three field experiments with high school and college students tested the self-determination theory hypotheses that intrinsic (vs. extrinsic) goals and autonomy-supportive (vs. controlling) learning climates would improve students' learning, performance, and persistence. The learning of text material or physical exercises was framed in terms of intrinsic (community, personal growth, health) versus extrinsic (money, image) goals, which were presented in an autonomy-supportive versus controlling manner. Analyses of variance confirmed that both experimentally manipulated variables yielded main effects on depth of processing, test performance, and persistence (all ps <.001), and an interaction resulted in synergistically high deep processing and test performance (but not persistence) when both intrinsic goals and autonomy support were present. Effects were significantly mediated by autonomous motivation.

The role of different types of instrumentality in motivation, study strategies, and performance: know why you learn, so you'll know what you learn!

BACKGROUND: Two theories in the field of motivation and achievement, namely the future time perspective theory and goal theory, result in conflicting recommendations for enhancing students' motivation, because of their differential emphasis on the task at hand and on the future consequences of a task. AIMS: We will present a framework consisting of four types of instrumentality that combines both perspectives. The implications of those different types for goal orientation, motivation, cognitive strategies, study habits and performance are investigated. SAMPLES: Participants were a group of 184 first-year nurse students with ages ranging from 18 to 45 years. METHODS: Questionnaires were administered that measured instrumentality, goal orientation, motivation, deep and surface level learning strategies, study habits, and a manipulation check. At the end of the year, exam scores were collected. RESULTS: The results showed that different types of instrumentality are related differently to the motivational, cognitive and achievement measures. Being internally regulated and perceiving the utility of the courses resulted both in a more adaptive goal orientation and higher intrinsic motivation, which led to the use of more adaptive cognitive strategies and to better study habits, which ultimately enhanced performance. Linking performance to extrinsic rewards and not seeing the utility of the course for the future yielded the opposite pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Type of instrumentality has indeed a differential influence on motivational, cognitive, and behavioural variables.