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A multilevel account of social value‐related reasons behind mastery goals
Author(s) -
Smeding Annique,
Dompnier Benoît,
Meier Emanuele,
Dar Céline,
Butera Fabrizio
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/bjep.12453
Subject(s) - moderation , psychology , dictation , multilevel model , value (mathematics) , social psychology , scale (ratio) , social comparison theory , social class , conformity , class (philosophy) , developmental psychology , mathematics education , statistics , artificial intelligence , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , political science , law , speech recognition , mathematics
Background A growing literature focuses on reasons behind achievement goal endorsement, and mastery‐approach goals (MG) specifically, and how these reasons influence academic performance. Past research provides evidence that student‐level social value‐related reasons behind MG moderate the MG‐performance link in adolescents and young adults. However, we ignore whether this moderation is best conceived of as a student‐level effect (i.e., students’ social value‐related reasons), a class‐level effect (i.e., influence of class‐dependent contextual social value), or both. Aims This research aims at understanding the moderation of the MG‐performance link by social value from a multilevel account, which is novel, as the student level has been the default level so far. Sample The study was conducted on a sample of 436 primary school students, from 3rd to 6th grade. Methods Students completed a MG scale adapted to their French classes under different instructions: standard, social desirability (answer to be viewed as likeable by your teacher), social utility (answer to be viewed as successful by your teacher), along with a dictation to measure performance, and socio‐demographic measures. Results Results show that the moderation effect of social utility on the MG‐dictation performance link is observed at the student level, but that the moderation by social desirability is best accounted for by class‐level differences. Conclusions It is important to consider a multilevel framework when examining reasons behind MG reports, including social value‐related reasons, both for future research and teachers in the classroom.