Student motivation and well-being : Achievement goal orientation profiles, temporal stability, and academic and socio-emotional outcomes

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine students’ achievement goal orientation profiles, the stability and change in these profiles, and academic and socio-emotional outcomes. Accordingly, Study I examined lower and upper secondary school students’ (N = 1321) achievement goal orientation profiles and the differences in general and academic well-being and academic achievement; Study II investigated the temporal stability in lower (N = 530) and upper secondary school (N = 519) students’ achievement goal orientation profiles preceding educational transitions and the differences in motivation and academic achievement; and Study III examined students’ (N = 579) achievement goal orientation profiles, temporal stability, and the differences in academic well-being across an educational transition as well as the parallel changes in motivation and well-being. Utilizing a person-centred approach and latent profile analysis, distinct groups of students with different motivational profiles were extracted with considerable consistency in the profiles across all studies and academic contexts. Groups with a dominant tendency towards mastery (mastery-oriented students), performance (success-oriented and/or performance-oriented students), and avoidance (avoidance-oriented and/or disengaged students) as well as a group of students without a dominant tendency towards any specific achievement goal orientation (indifferent students) were found. Students predominantly emphasizing mastery displayed the most adaptive pattern of academic and socioemotional functioning. Students’ preference for performance-related goals and outcomes was, in turn, related to some adjustment problems and socioemotional vulnerability. For example, both the masteryand success-oriented students were highly engaged in studying, found their schoolwork meaningful, and were doing well in school, although the success-oriented students’ stronger concerns with performance made them more vulnerable to emotional distress and school burnout. The indifferent students represented the typical student who acknowledges the goals of learning and doing well in school, but at the same time tries to minimize the effort and time spent on studying. Their motivation for learning and studying was less than optimal but, then again, they did not seem to have any particular problems either. Students deliberately aiming to avoid schoolwork showed the most maladaptive pattern of academic and socioemotional functioning; for example, they displayed relatively low engagement and academic achievement and high levels of cynicism and inadequacy. The motivational profiles were rather stable over time. Around 60% of lower and upper secondary school students displayed identical motivational profiles within and between the school years, and half of the students displayed identical profiles across the transition to upper secondary education. In addition, most of the changes in the group memberships were directed towards neighbouring groups, and there were only few clear changes. The results support the conception of achievement goal orientation as a disposition that reflects students’ generalized beliefs and tendencies to select certain goals and to favour certain outcomes. In conclusion, secondary school students endorse multiple achievementrelated goals and outcomes simultaneously, and the patterns of these strivings are differentially associated with academic and socio-emotional functioning, yet rather stable both preceding and across educational transitions. The findings demonstrate the importance of including measures of well-being when evaluating the role of achievement goal orientations in learning and achievement. The results show that the educational transition periods for youth are not entirely characterized by either school disengagement and distress or school engagement and well-being. It is therefore crucial to focus on individual development in motivation and well-being; some students encounter declining motivation and different types of adjustment problems, while some navigate this phase without notable problems, and some even become increasingly motivated and engaged in studying.