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The development of motivation and amotivation to study and work across age-graded transitions in adolescence and young adulthood
Symonds, Jennifer Schoon, Ingrid Eccles, Jacquelynne Salmela-Aro, Katariina
Symonds, Jennifer
Schoon, Ingrid
Eccles, Jacquelynne
Salmela-Aro, Katariina
Abstract
People’s motivation to engage in studying and working is an important precursor of participation and attainment. However, little is known about how motivation and the lack of motivation develops normatively across adolescence and young adulthood. Furthermore, there is no comparison of motivation and amotivation development across sequential age-graded transitions such as the mid-schooling transition in adolescence and the school-to-work transition in young adulthood. The current study explored trajectories of motivation and amotivation development in Finland, using piecewise growth curve modelling to analyze five waves of data (age 15–22 years) from a sample of 878 youth (52% male). Indicators of amotivation (disinterest, futility and inertia) decreased, whilst the indicator of motivation (attainment value) increased across both transitions. Reductions in disinterest and inertia were steeper for youth transferring into vocational education at the mid-schooling transition and for youth transferring from an academic track to higher education at the school-to-work transition. Amotivation and motivation shifted most at the school-to-work transition, signaling the importance of this period for motivation development. Overall, the results suggest that young people became more motivated and less amotivated as they aged from adolescence through young adulthood, in line with normative maturational and gradual social changes and transfer into increasingly personalized environments.
Keywords
motivation, amotivation, task-value, school transition, school-to-work transition
Date
2019
Type
Journal article
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Book
Volume
48
Issue
6
Page Range
1131-1145
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Positive Psychology and Education
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled