Goal perspectives of adolescents in academic context

Drawing from contemporary social cognitive theories of achievement motivation, this study examined the interrelationships between adolescents' academic goal orientations, beliefs about success in the classroom, and expressed interest in and enjoyment of academic activities. 967 adolescents between 11 and 16 years old completed scales assessing their goal orientations, beliefs about the causes of success, and degree of satisfaction/interest specific to the academic context. Two goal-beliefs factors or "personal theories of achievement" emerged. Students who were high in the task goal-belief factor reported greater enjoyment of school and less boredom.. Scores on the ego goal-belief factor were positively related to feeling bored in school. The implications of these findings in terms of maximising students' investment in the educational domain are discussed.