ABSTRACT
This chapter reports the results of two studies on motivation and achievement conducted in the United Arab Emirates. In Study 1, we explored the relationships among perceived effort in studying, parental involvement, general motivation, and self-concept, anxiety, and achievement in mathematics. Path analysis showed that the direct path from effort to mathematics achievement was not significant for either gender. However, effort seems to have an influence on mathematics achievement through mathematics self-concept, mathematics anxiety, and motivation. Effort had an indirect positive effect on achievement for both boys and girls. Parental involvement had a direct negative effect on mathematics achievement. Further, parental involvement had indirect effects on mathematics achievement for boys and girls through the mediating variables of motivation, mathematics anxiety, and mathematics self-concept. Motivation, on the other hand, had a positive effect on mathematics achievement for boys and girls. Similarly, mathematics self-concept had positive effects on mathematics achievement for boys and girls with the coefficient for boys relatively greater than that for girls. Mathematics anxiety had a significant negative effect on mathematics achievement for boys and girls with the coefficient for girls relatively greater than that for boys. In Study 2, a different set of motivational variables were used: performance-approach and mastery orientations and locus of control, along with anxiety, self-concept, and achievement in mathematics. Path analysis demonstrated that performance-approach orientation predicted positively mathematics self-concept for girls, but it failed to predict any other variable. Mastery orientation predicted achievement in mathematics for boys, mathematics anxiety for both genders, internal locus of control for both genders but failed to predict external locus of control. As for mathematics achievement, neither of the two exogenous variables – mastery orientation and performance orientation – had a strong link with mathematics achievement. External locus of control had negative effects for both boys and girls and mathematics self-concept had positive effects on achievement for both genders. Mastery orientation had positive indirect effects on achievement for boys and girls, and performance-approach orientation had positive indirect effects on achievement for boys and girls. Findings are discussed in relation to the socialization of boys and girls in the Arabic culture.
