scholarly journals Need satisfaction and achievement goals of university faculty: an international study of their interplay and relevance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daumiller ◽  
Stefan Janke ◽  
Raven Rinas ◽  
Oliver Dickhäuser ◽  
Markus Dresel

AbstractPrevious research has successfully used basic psychological need satisfaction and achievement goal approaches for describing the motivations of university faculty for teaching and for explaining differences in faculty experiences, success, and learning. However, the interplay between these motivational constructs has been largely ignored, with only faculty from specific educational contexts being studied—neglecting those from other higher education systems and institution types that potentially differ in the configurations, levels, and effects of their motivations. As combining both approaches and examining multiple educational contexts is essential for a comprehensive theoretical understanding of faculty motivation and generalizable results, we conducted an international study including 1410 university faculty members from German, Indian, and US-American teaching and research universities. Aside from need satisfaction and achievement goals, we measured their positive affect, teaching quality, and professional learning. Results demonstrated measurement invariance of basic need and achievement goal scales regarding language, higher education context, and institution type. We found small differences in motivations between the three higher education contexts and negligible differences between institution types. Task, learning, and relational goals were positively and work avoidance goals were negatively linked to the outcome variables. Need satisfaction sensibly explained differences in pursuit of these goals, and—directly and indirectly through the goals—also the outcome variables. Taken together, these results provide international evidence for the importance of faculty motivation for teaching and illuminate how need satisfaction is relevant for goal pursuit, while both motivation approaches uniquely matter for faculty experiences, success, and learning.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daumiller ◽  
Stefan Janke ◽  
Raven Rinas ◽  
Oliver Dickhäuser ◽  
Markus Dresel

Previous research has successfully used basic psychological need and achievement goal ap-proaches for describing the motivations of university faculty for teaching and for explaining differences in faculty experiences, success, and learning. However, the interplay between these motivational constructs has been largely ignored, with only faculty from specific educational contexts being studied—neglecting those from other higher education systems and institution types that potentially differ in the configurations, levels, and effects of their motivations. As combining both approaches and examining multiple educational contexts is essential for a comprehensive theoretical understanding of faculty motivation and generalizable results, we conducted an international study including 1,410 university faculty members from German, In-dian, and US-American teaching and research universities. Aside from need satisfaction and achievement goals, we measured their positive affect, teaching quality, and professional learn-ing. Results attested measurement invariance of basic need and achievement goal scales regard-ing language, higher education context, and institution type. We found small differences in mo-tivations between the three higher education contexts and negligible differences between institu-tion types. Task, learning, and relational goals were positively, and work avoidance goals were negatively linked to the outcome variables. Need satisfaction sensibly explained differences in pursuit of these goals, and—directly and indirectly through the goals—also the outcome varia-bles. Taken together, these results provide international evidence for the importance of faculty motivation for teaching and illuminate how need satisfaction is relevant for goal pursuit, while both motivation approaches uniquely matter for faculty experiences, success, and learning.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Daumiller ◽  
Stefan Janke ◽  
Julia Hein ◽  
Raven Rinas ◽  
Oliver Dickhäuser ◽  
...  

Although teacher motivation is posited to matter for students’ learning experiences, this remains largely uninvestigated, particularly in higher education. In two studies, we analyzed the role of higher education teachers’ achievement goals and self-efficacy for students’ learning experi-ences. In Study 1 (k = 166 teachers, n = 2,106 students), we assessed teachers’ motivations at the semester start, and students’ course-specific perceptions of teaching quality (overall rating, learning) and emotions (joy, boredom) at the semester end. Latent multilevel modeling indicat-ed favorable associations for teachers’ self-efficacy, but not for their goals. In Study 2 (k = 96 teachers, n = 16,009 students), we assessed the same constructs and measured students’ learn-ing experiences weekly regarding 828 specific course sessions. Additionally, we included teach-ers’ session-specific motivations. Results replicated the effects of self-efficacy on the teacher-level and suggested that performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals primarily matter on the level of specific sessions. This affirms the relevance of teacher motivations and il-luminates the importance of their specificity.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raven Rinas ◽  
Markus Dresel ◽  
Martin Daumiller

Research suggests that higher education teachers worldwide experience high levels of stress, burnout, and other adverse experiences due to the challenging nature of their work. To better understand why, under similar conditions, some teachers struggle while others flourish, studies are needed which recognize multiple facets of their subjective well-being (SWB) and explain differences therein using comprehensive theoretical frameworks. From an achievement goal perspective, goals can be expected to underlie differences in one’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviours in achievement contexts. However, this theoretical notion remains largely uninvestigated when it comes to understanding differences in higher education teachers’ SWB. Our research thereby offers a comprehensive overview of the associations between higher education teachers’ achievement goals and, acknowledging the multifaceted nature of SWB, their positive emotions, negative emotions, job satisfaction, and life satisfaction. For international and institutional generalizability, we conducted a study in which 1,338 teachers from three countries (Germany, the USA, and India) and two higher education institution types (research- and teaching-oriented institutions), completed measures of their achievement goals and multifaceted SWB. We found that, invariant across the different countries and higher education institutions, achievement goals were meaningfully and differentially associated with facets of SWB. Notably, mastery approach goals (task approach goals) were adaptively associated with all facets of SWB, while the opposite was found for work avoidance goals. Our findings highlight the relevance of achievement goals for understanding and supporting higher education teachers’ SWB, as well as the importance of employing differentiated and comprehensive perspectives in achievement goal and SWB research.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kücherer ◽  
Markus Dresel ◽  
Martin Daumiller

PurposeProfessional training courses play an important role for higher education instructors and their teaching quality. However, participants strongly differ in how much they learn in these courses. The present study seeks to explain these differences by focusing on attention as a central aspect of their behavioral engagement that can stem from participants' achievement motivations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigated the attention of participants in full-day higher education professional training courses and how differences therein are associated with their achievement goals. Prior to course participation, 117 university instructors (49.6% male, 79.5% with PhD, average age 31.4 years) reported their achievement goals. Using an adapted observational instrument (Hommel, 2012a), two raters subsequently observed and coded the participants' attention during the course (ICC2 = 0.83).FindingsThe results documented very high attention levels, although with substantial interindividual differences. Multilevel analyses indicated that learning goals positively and work avoidance goals negatively predicted observed attention.Originality/valueThe findings provide insight into the value of an observational approach to measuring a fundamental aspect of learning engagement, and contribute to the understanding of interindividual differences in an important higher education learning environment. The study illuminates the relevance of personal predictors for university instructors' successful learning. Specifically, the findings point to the significance of goals as a relevant, but surprisingly hitherto uninvestigated, premise of learning engagement.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Kücherer ◽  
Markus Dresel ◽  
Martin Daumiller

PurposeProfessional training courses play an important role for higher education instructors and their teaching quality. However, participants strongly differ in how much they learn in these courses. The present study seeks to explain these differences by focusing on attention as a central aspect of their behavioral engagement that can stem from participants' achievement motivations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors investigated the attention of participants in full-day higher education professional training courses and how differences therein are associated with their achievement goals. Prior to course participation, 117 university instructors (49.6% male, 79.5% with PhD, average age 31.4 years) reported their achievement goals. Using an adapted observational instrument (Hommel, 2012a), two raters subsequently observed and coded the participants' attention during the course (ICC2 = 0.83).FindingsThe results documented very high attention levels, although with substantial interindividual differences. Multilevel analyses indicated that learning goals positively and work avoidance goals negatively predicted observed attention.Originality/valueThe findings provide insight into the value of an observational approach to measuring a fundamental aspect of learning engagement, and contribute to the understanding of interindividual differences in an important higher education learning environment. The study illuminates the relevance of personal predictors for university instructors' successful learning. Specifically, the findings point to the significance of goals as a relevant, but surprisingly hitherto uninvestigated, premise of learning engagement.


2009 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Engeser

In a series of experiments, Bargh, Gollwitzer, Lee-Chai, Barndollar, and Trötschel (2001) documented that achievement goals can be activated outside of awareness and can then operate nonconsciously in order to guide self-regulated behavior effectively. In three experiments (N = 69, N = 71, N = 56), two potential moderators of the achievement goal priming effect were explored. All three experiments showed small but consistent effects of the nonconscious activation of the achievement goal, though word class did not moderate the priming effect. There was no support for the hypothesis that the explicit achievement motive moderates the priming effect. Implications are addressed in the light of other recent studies in this domain and further research questions are outlined.


2021 ◽  
pp. 089331892110179
Author(s):  
Linjuan Rita Men ◽  
Zifei Fay Chen ◽  
Yi Grace Ji

This study examines how CEOs’ use of motivating language influences employee relationships within startup organizations. Informed by self-determination theory and social identity theory, the study proposes psychological need satisfaction and organizational identification as mechanisms accounting for the influence of startup leaders’ use of motivating language on employee relational outcomes. Through an online survey of 1,027 startup employees across various industries in Mainland China, the study found that startup CEO use of motivating language positively influenced employee-startup relationships both directly and indirectly through enhanced psychological need satisfaction and organizational identification from startup employees. This study advances theoretical understanding of executive leader public relations functions and their role as important communication agents in the unique Chinese startup context. Further, this research tested the explanatory boundaries of motivating language theory and provides practical insights for startup leaders, communication practitioners, and entrepreneurs regarding how to develop long-term and quality relationships with startup employees.


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