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Possible selves in Singaporean students and the relationship with academic motivation
Author
Yap, Zheng Jie
Supervisor
Chong, Wan Har
Abstract
Possible selves are the potential selves that a person thinks they could become in the future. Markus and Nurius (1986) suggest that much of individuals' significant behaviour can be seen primarily as an effort to approach or avoid various possible selves. The self-concept is deeply related to behaviour regulation, as it motivates people to act in a certain way, helps them select among future behaviours and provides additional context to current behaviours. In connection with this, many aspects relating to possible selves, such as how they are accompanied by effective strategies, have been related to performance and positive outcomes in previous empirical research, notably in children’s academic outcomes. However, a gap in the literature has been identified between the concept of possible selves and that of motivation, which is conceptually connected, as previously described, but has been mostly approached separately by empirical studies. Considering that autonomous academic motivation has also been positively linked with school performance as defined by various parameters (Ryan & Grolnick, 1986; Vansteenkiste et al., 2004; Alivernini & Lucidi, 2011), it is imperative to establish if there is an evidence-based relationship between motivation and academic possible selves as well as their mutual impact on performance and academic outcomes. Consequently, the organismic integration approach, a sub-theory of the self-determination theory proposed by Deci and Ryan (1991), was selected due to its ability to differentiate between different motivational types and how these types are connected to performance on the long and short term. In addition, possible selves have been rarely addressed and researched in non-western psychology studies. There is very little research done on how non-western cultures, including Singapore, are influenced by possible selves and the relationship they have with motivation. Hence, the current research focused on the academic possible selves of 300 Singaporean students between the ages of 13 and 16 years old, and the relationships these have with academic motivation, as defined by the Organismic Integration Theory of Deci and Ryan (1991). An opened ended measure was used to record expected and feared possible selves and the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ-A) was used to assess students’ levels of external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic academic motivation. The results showed that the number of academic possible selves correlated with all types of motivation, while the number of real strategies accompanying academic possible selves correlated with a more autonomous academic motivation, rs(298)=.19, p<.01, as indicated by the Relative Autonomy Index of the SRQ-A. The degree of balance in academic possible selves positively correlated with all types of motivation, while matched academic possible selves couldn’t be identified. The expected outcomes were partially supported by our results the implications accompanying the results, along with limitations and further areas of research are considered and discussed.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
BF724.3.S35 Yap
Date Submitted
2016