Motivational factors in test performance

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the continuing failure of the education system to improve the achievement of children of economically disadvantaged status. Under consideration is a claim that these inequalities have a motivational basis, with children of such status being especially wary of adults, and thereby more likely to concentrate on interpersonal factors in a testing situation rather than the relevant task factors. Further, it is claimed that warm and supportive adults are able to alleviate this wariness and so allow children to perform better on the task. Three groups of seventy-two children were tested in three conditions which varied the level of tester-derived encouragement and friend-liness. One of the groups consisted of economically disadvantaged Maori children, one consisted of economically disadvantaged Pakeha children, and one consisted of economically advantaged Pakeha children. The findings indicated that Maori children, particularly Maori girls, performed at a significantly lower level when the degree of interpersonal support was low. Economically advantaged girls also performed less well in this condition, as well as in the condition which was presumed to provide the highest level of support. It was suggested that this last result might reveal the existence of conflict for this group, between achievement and sex-role stereotyping. In view of the fact that inferior social status is often ascribed on the basis of sex and race, these results were considered to provide evidence in support of a status-linked motivational deficit. The implications of these findings for teaching and testing were considered.