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Affirming and undermining motivations for reading and associations with reading comprehension, age and gender
Author(s) -
Steensel Roel,
Oostdam Ron,
Gelderen Amos
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of research in reading
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.077
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1467-9817
pISSN - 0141-0423
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9817.12281
Subject(s) - psychology , moderation , reading (process) , reading motivation , reading comprehension , confirmatory factor analysis , social psychology , comprehension , test (biology) , psychological intervention , developmental psychology , variance (accounting) , structural equation modeling , paleontology , linguistics , statistics , philosophy , mathematics , accounting , psychiatry , political science , law , business , biology
Background There has been an increasing interest in negative or ‘undermining’ motivations for reading. In this study, we aimed to strengthen knowledge on the validity of the distinction between affirming and undermining motivations. First, we examined whether the structure of a questionnaire based on this distinction could be confirmed. Second, we examined the predictive value of undermining motivations for reading comprehension. Third, we studied moderator effects of gender and age. Methods We administered a reading motivation questionnaire and a reading comprehension test to 324 low‐achieving adolescents. The questionnaire included items on affirming and undermining motivations for school and leisure time reading: intrinsic motivation and avoidance, self‐efficacy and perceived difficulty. Results Confirmatory factor analyses supported the assumed structure of the questionnaire. Undermining motivations, particularly perceived difficulty, explained unique variance in reading achievement. Gender and age did not moderate effects of motivational variables. Conclusions Educators need to be aware of the role of undermining motivations. Future research should examine if interventions can lead to the reduction of such motivations.