ABSTRACT
Th e study of children’s motivation in school is a vibrant area of research, replete with rich theories and complex constructs (Eccles, Wigfi eld, & Schiefele, 1998; Wigfi eld, Eccles, Schiefele, Roeser, & Davis-Kean., 2006). Th e lion’s share of this work focuses on individual diff erences, attempting to identify the forces, originating from many levels, that shape student motivation. A wide array of factors have been identifi ed (Deci, 1992; Eccles et al., 1998; Heckhausen, 1991; Pintrich, 2003; Pintrich & Schunk, 2003; Reeve, 2005; Weiner, 1986), including individual factors such as selfeffi cacy, values, achievement goals, self-regulatory style, identifi cation, and feelings of belonging. Moreover, factors outside the person, from their social contexts, have also been found to shape motivation, factors such as contingencies, rewards, goal structures, the nature of academic tasks, autonomy support, involvement of authority fi gures and peers, school climate, warmth, structure, psychological control, and relationship style. General process models have guided the study of how subsets of these factors are linked to each other, examining their unique and interactive effects and exploring how they mediate each other in predicting academic success.
