Students’ Achievement Goal Orientations Scale: Psychometric Properties, Measurement Invariance Across Genders and Grades
Journal of School and Educational Psychology,
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2025),
10 April 2025
,
Page 18-30
https://doi.org/10.47602/josep.v5i1.62
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of PALS scale (Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scale) and measurement across genders and grades. The sample of the current research (N=2049) included secondary junior (N1=1342) and senior school (N2=703) students. They responded to self-report questionnaires measuring achievement goal orientations (mastery goals, performance approach goals, and performance avoidance goals), Exploratory and confirmatory procedures were applied to the above scales, demonstrating and supporting the underlying dimensionality. For achievement goal orientations the fit measure were: χ2=577,312, df =101, p<0.001; CFI =0.996; TLI = 0.960; RMSEA =0.050; 90% CI of RMSEA = (0.046; 0.054); SRMR=0.049; NFI=0.960; GFI=0.988. Reliability measures using Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega were all satisfactory ranged between 0.575 and 0.824. The research discovered that the three aspects of individual goal orientations—specifically mastery, performance approach, and performance avoidance—displayed adequate internal consistency within themselves and also measurement invariance was demonstrated across genders and grade levels, ensuring that these important concepts are perceived similarly across different genders and grade categories. The results showed that the Greek version of PALS possesses satisfactory psychometric properties boosting the credibility of the instrument for use in both psychological and educational research.
How to Cite
References
Al-Emadi, A. A. (2001). The relationships among achievement, goal orientation, and study strategies. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 29(8), 823-832. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2001.29.8.823
Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students' learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 260-267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.260
Anderman, E. M., & Midgley, C. (1997). Changes in achievement goal orientations, perceived academic competence, and grades across the transition to middle-level schools. Contemporary educational psychology, 22(3), 269-298. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1996.0926
Anderman, E. M., & Young, A. J. (1994). Motivation and strategy use in science: Individual differences and classroom effects. Journal of research in science teaching, 31(8), 811-831. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.3660310805
Anderman, L. H., & Anderman, E. M. (1999). Social predictors of changes in students' achievement goal orientations. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1998.0978
Anderman, E. M., & Maehr, M. L. (1994). Motivation and schooling in the middle grades. Review of Εducational Research, 64(2), 287-309. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543064002287
Anderman, E. M., Maehr, M. L., & Midgley, C. (1999). Declining motivation after the transition to middle school: Schools can make a difference. Journal of Research & Development in Education 32(3), 131–147.
Bardach, L., Oczlon, S., Pietschnig, J., & Lüftenegger, M. (2020). Has achievement goal theory been right? A meta-analysis of the relation between goal structures and personal achievement goals. Journal of Educational Psychology, 112(6), 1197. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000419
Barron, K. E., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (2001). Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80(5), 706-722. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.5.706
Biddle, S., & Goudas, M. (1996). Analysis of children's physical activity and its association with adult encouragement and social cognitive variables. Journal of School Health, 66(2), 75-78.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.1996.tb07914.x
Bong, M. (2009). Age-related differences in achievement goal differentiation. Journal of educational psychology, 101(4), 879. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0015945
Bru, E., Stornes, T., Munthe, E., & Thuen, E. (2010). Students' perceptions of teacher support across the transition from primary to secondary school. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 54(6), 519-533. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2010.522842
Church, M. A., Elliot, A. J., & Gable, S. L. (2001). Perceptions of classroom environment, achievement goals, and achievement outcomes. Journal of educational psychology, 93(1), 43. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.43
Diseth, Å., Danielsen, A. G., & Samdal, O. (2012). A path analysis of basic need support, self-efficacy, achievement goals, life satisfaction and academic achievement level among secondary school students. Educational Psychology, 32(3), 335-354. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2012.657159
Diseth, Å., & Samdal, O. (2014). Autonomy support and achievement goals as predictors of perceived school performance and life satisfaction in the transition between lower and upper secondary school. Social Psychology of Education, 17, 269-291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-013-9244-4
Elliot, A. J. (2005). A conceptual history of the achievement goal construct. Handbook of competence and motivation, 16(2005), 52-72.
Elliot, A. J., & Harackiewicz, J. M. (1996). Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis. Journal of personality and social psychology, 70(3), 461. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.3.461
Elliot, A. J., & Hulleman, C. S. (2017). Achievement goals. In A. J. Elliot, C. S. Dweck, & D. S. Yeager (Eds.), Handbook of competence and motivation: Theory and application (pp. 43–60). The Guilford Press. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-17591-004
Elliot, A. J., & McGregor, H. A. (2001). A 2× 2 achievement goal framework. Journal of personality and social psychology, 80(3), 501. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.501
Freeman, T. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2005). Changes in Mastery Goals in Urban and Rural Middle School Students. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 20(1), 1-12.
Gillet, N., Vallerand, R. J., & Lafrenière, M. A. K. (2012). Intrinsic and extrinsic school motivation as a function of age: The mediating role of autonomy support. Social Psychology of Education, 15, 77-95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-011-9170-2
Givens Rolland, R. (2012). Synthesizing the evidence on classroom goal structures in middle and secondary schools: A meta-analysis and narrative review. Review of Educational Research, 82(4), 396-435. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654312464909
Gonida, E. N., Voulala, K., & Kiosseoglou, G. (2009). Students' achievement goal orientations and their behavioral and emotional engagement: Co-examining the role of perceived school goal structures and parent goals during adolescence. Learning and Individual differences, 19(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2008.04.002
Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through late adolescence: A longitudinal study. Journal of educational psychology, 93(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.93.1.3
Gkontelos, A., Vaiopoulou, J., & Stamovlasis, D. (2021). Teachers’ Irrational Belief Scale: Psychometric Properties of the Greek version and Measurement Invariance across genders. Behavioral Sciences, 11, 160. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs11110160
Gkontelos, A., Vaiopoulou, J., & Stamovlasis, D. (2022). Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior Scale: Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version and Measurement Invariance across Genders. Social Sciences, 11(7), 306. https://doi.org/10.3390 /socsci11070306
Guan, J., Xiang, P., McBride, R., & Bruene, A. (2006). Achievement goals, social goals, and students’ reported persistence and effort in high school physical education. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, 25(1), 58-74. https://doi.org/10.1123/jtpe.25.1.58
Kaplan, A., Gheen, M., & Midgley, C. (2002). Classroom goal structure and student disruptive behaviour. British journal of educational psychology, 72(2), 191-211. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709902158847
Kaplan, A., & Maehr, M. L. (1999). Achievement goals and student well-being. Contemporary educational psychology, 24(4), 330-358. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.0993
Lee, M., & Bong, M. (2016). In their own words: Reasons underlying the achievement striving of students in schools. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(2), 274. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000048
Linnenbrink-Garcia, L., Wormington, S. V., Snyder, K. E., Riggsbee, J., Perez, T., Ben-Eliyahu, A., & Hill, N. E. (2018). Multiple pathways to success: An examination of integrative motivational profiles among upper elementary and college students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(7), 1026-1048. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000245
Lüftenegger, M., Tran, U. S., Bardach, L., Schober, B., & Spiel, C. (2017). Measuring a mastery goal structure using the TARGET framework. Zeitschrift für Psychologie. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000277
Luo, W., Paris, S. G., Hogan, D., & Luo, Z. (2011). Do performance goals promote learning? A pattern analysis of Singapore students’ achievement goals. Contemporary educational psychology, 36(2), 165-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2011.02.003
Maulana, R., Opdenakker, M. C., & Bosker, R. (2016). Teachers' instructional behaviors as important predictors of academic motivation: Changes and links across the school year. Learning and Individual Differences, 50, 147-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2016.07.019
Meece, J. L., & Miller, S. D. (2001). A longitudinal analysis of elementary school students' achievement goals in literacy activities. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 26(4), 454-480. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.2000.1071
Meece, J. L., Herman, P., & McCombs, B. L. (2003). Relations of learner-centered teaching practices to adolescents’ achievement goals. International Journal of Educational Research, 39(4-5), 457-475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2004.06.009
Meece, J. L., Glienke, B. B., & Askew, K. (2009). Gender and motivation. Handbook of motivation at school, 425-446.
Midgley, C., Kaplan, A., Middleton, M., Maehr, M. L., Urdan, T., Anderman, L. H., Anderman, E., & Roeser, R. (1998). The development and validation of scales assessing students' achievement goal orientations. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 23(2), 113-131. https://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1998.0965
Öztürk, G., & Gürbüz, N. (2013). The impact of gender on foreign language speaking anxiety and motivation. Procedia-social and behavioral Sciences, 70, 654-665. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.01.106
Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of educational Psychology, 101(1), 115. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013383
Roeser, R. W., Midgley, C., & Urdan, T. C. (1996). Perceptions of the school psychological environment and early adolescents' psychological and behavioral functioning in school: The mediating role of goals and belonging. Journal of educational psychology, 88(3), 408. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.88.3.408
Schmidt, A., Neubauer, A. B., Dirk, J., & Schmiedek, F. (2020). The bright and the dark side of peer relationships: Differential effects of relatedness satisfaction and frustration at school on affective well-being in children’s daily lives. Developmental psychology, 56(8), 1532. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000997
Schwinger, M., & Stiensmeier‐Pelster, J. (2011). Performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance classroom goals and the adoption of personal achievement goals. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 81(4), 680-699. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.2010.02012.x
Schwinger, M., & Wild, E. (2012). Prevalence, stability, and functionality of achievement goal profiles in mathematics from third to seventh grade. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 37(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2011.08.001
Senko, C. (2019). When do mastery and performance goals facilitate academic achievement? Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59, 101795. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2019.101795
Senko, C., & Dawson, B. (2017). Performance-approach goal effects depend on how they are defined: Meta-analytic evidence from multiple educational outcomes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 109(4), 574-598. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000160
Sideridis, G. D. (2005). Goal Orientation, Academic Achievement, and Depression: Evidence in Favor of a Revised Goal Theory Framework. Journal of educational psychology, 97(3), 366. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.97.3.366
Sideridis, G. D., & Stamovlasis, D. (2014). The role of goal orientations in explaining academic cheating in students with learning disabilities: An application of the cusp catastrophe. Ethics & Behavior, 24(6), 444-466. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2013.877393
Stamovlasis, D., & Gonida, S. N. (2018). Dynamic Effects of Performance-Avoidance Goal Orientation on Student Achievement in Language and Mathematics. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences, 22(3), 335-358. https://europepmc.org/article/med/29908058
Stavropoulou, G, Stamovlasis, D, and Gonida, S. E. (2023). Probing the effects of perceived teacher goals and achievement-goal orientations on students’ self-efficacy, cognitive and metacognitive strategies in writing: A person-centered approach. Learning and Motivation, 82, 101888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2023.101888
Urdan, T. (2010). The challenges and promise of research on classroom goal structures. In Handbook of research on schools, schooling, and human development (pp. 110-126). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203874844
Urdan, T., & Midgley, C. (2003). Changes in the perceived classroom goal structure and pattern of adaptive learning during early adolescence. Contemporary educational psychology, 28(4), 524-551. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00060-7
Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2002). The development of competence beliefs, expectancies for success, and achievement values from childhood through adolescence. Development of achievement motivation, 91-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012750053-9/50006-1
Wimmer, S., Lackner, H. K., Papousek, I., & Paechter, M. (2018). Goal orientations and activation of approach versus avoidance motivation while awaiting an achievement situation in the laboratory. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1552. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01552
Wolters, C. A. (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. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.236
Xiang, P., & Lee, A. (2002). Achievement goals, perceived motivational climate, and students' self-reported mastery behaviors. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 73(1), 58-65. https://doi.org/10.1080/02701367.2002.10608992
- Abstract Viewed: 91 times
- Download PDF Downloaded: 44 times