Curiosity has received increasing attention in the educational literature, yet empirical investigations have been limited by inconsistent conceptualizations and the use of curiosity synonymously with ...other constructs, particularly interest. The purpose of this review is to critically examine the dimensionality, definitions, and measures of curiosity within educational settings, and address the boundaries between curiosity and interest. A systematic review of 39 articles from 2003 to 2013 revealed a reliance on self-report measures, a focus on curiosity as a personality trait, and definitions characterized by four themes, the most common of which were curiosity as a need for knowledge or information, and curiosity as a motivator of exploratory behavior. The overlap and relations between curiosity and interest are discussed, and it is proposed that an examination of (a) the role of knowledge, (b) goals and outcomes, and (c) stability and malleability provide a basis for differentiating curiosity and interest according to their essential characteristics.
Although organizations increasingly offer wellness programs that enable employees to work out before or during work, it remains unknown what implications physical activity before or during the ...workday might have for work outcomes. Whereas a workout might be rewarding, especially for those who enjoy exercise, working out might also be draining, especially for those who are less intrinsically motivated to exercise. Integrating the Work–Home Resources model with self-determination theory, we develop and test theory which identifies how physical activity before the end of the workday might exert countervailing effects by impeding work focus through drained personal resources (i.e., ego depletion), while also improving work focus via enhanced personal resources (i.e., self-efficacy). We further theorized that motivation for exercise-whether it is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated-serves as a cross-level moderator of these relations. In a 5-day experience sampling study tracking 74 regularly exercising employees with Fitbit activity monitors, results indicated that physical activity was not significantly related to ego depletion. However, we found that light physical activity was positively related to self-efficacy and self-efficacy positively related to work focus (as rated by coworkers). Further, vigorous physical activity only resulted in better work focus among employees with an intrinsic (vs. extrinsic) motivation for exercise. Finally, moderate physical activity resulted in better work focus via self-efficacy among extrinsically motivated exercises, whereas this relation was negative for intrinsically motivated exercisers. Combined, our results highlight that physical activity can improve work focus when there is a match between physical activity intensity and exercise motivation.
The effect of motivations on knowledge sharing behavior has been extensively investigated in various online communities. However, this topic is rarely examined in the context of online health ...communities (OHCs). Furthermore, the difference in the motivations of sharing knowledge between two types of members in OHCs − health professionals and normal users, is never examined. The present study models and examines both the extrinsic (reputation and reciprocity) and intrinsic (knowledge self-efficacy, altruism, and empathy) motivations of health professionals and normal users. The hypotheses derived from the research model were empirically validated using an online survey of 443 members of three famous online health communities in China. Results show that reciprocity and altruism positively affect the knowledge sharing intention of both health professionals and normal users. Moreover, reputation and knowledge self-efficacy have a greater influence on the knowledge sharing intentions of health professionals than normal users; whereas reciprocity, altruism, and empathy have a greater influence on the knowledge sharing intentions of normal users than health professionals. These new findings expand our understanding on the motivations that may affect knowledge sharing intentions in the context of OHCs.
•Reciprocity and altruism positively affect knowledge sharing intention.•Self-efficacy and reputation have a greater effect for health professionals.•Reciprocity, altruism and empathy have a greater influence for normal users.
Adopting an evolutionary approach to substantiate major characteristics of human cognitive architecture has been one of the major recent developments in cognitive load theory. According to this ...approach, human cognitive architecture is a natural information processing system which can be described by five general principles. This paper attempts to (1) identify the scope of applicability of these principles in natural information processing systems of different levels of complexity, (2) reconcile the coexistence of implicit (primary) and controlled (secondary) processes within the same human cognitive architecture, and (3) incorporate motivational factors into the evolutionary approach to human cognitive architecture. The paper suggests two principal modifications to the traditional formulation of the evolutionary approach. Firstly, natural information processing systems are viewed as dynamically evolving systems with new principles added with increasing levels of complexity of the systems. Secondly, a new (the explicit intention to learn) principle is added at the level of human cognition. This sixth principle is expected to address (1) the emergence of controlled mechanisms dealing with biologically secondary information as expressed by conscious processing in working memory and (2) the role of learner motivation in such processes from an evolutionary perspective. The paper concludes with discussion of theoretical and practical instructional implications of the proposed modifications.
Sociocognitive research has demonstrated that power affects how people feel, think, and act. In this article, I review literature from social psychology, neuroscience, management, and animal research ...and propose an integrated framework of power as an intensifier of goal-related approach motivation. A growing literature shows that power energizes thought, speech, and action and orients individuals toward salient goals linked to power roles, predispositions, tasks, and opportunities. Power magnifies self-expression linked to active parts of the self (the active self), enhancing confidence, self-regulation, and prioritization of efforts toward advancing focal goals. The effects of power on cognitive processes, goal preferences, performance, and corruption are discussed, and its potentially detrimental effects on social attention, perspective taking, and objectification of subordinates are examined. Several inconsistencies in the literature are explained by viewing power holders as more flexible and dynamic than is usually assumed.
The adoption of an organization-wide system, such as an enterprise system (ES), has often been mandated by organizational management, which may not necessarily motivate users to proactively explore ...the system's features and subsequently apply pertinent features that best support their job tasks. Anchoring on self-determination theory, this research investigates the antecedents and consequences of users' intrinsic motivation to explore ES features. We propose two organizational levers (i.e., autonomous job design and socialization tactics) that the management could exercise to trigger intrinsic motivation, thereby leading to improved ES feature exploration. Intrinsic motivation is manifested by hedonic motivation and normative motivation, whereas ES feature exploration is conceptualized as a dual-dimensional outcome reflected by cognitive behavior (exploratory usage) and positive affect (exploration satisfaction). Through a two-stage survey of 127 organizational users in China, we find general support for our research model. We further observe significant moderating effects of prevention focus on the association between organizational levers and intrinsic motivations. Beyond demonstrating how organizational users respond to different organizational levers, this research examines a broader, enduring challenge, which is to determine how organizational users can be induced to be intrinsically inspired to innovatively harness implemented information systems.
Due to the important role that teachers’ professional success plays in the effectiveness of their students and the education system in which they are involved, the present study investigated whether ...teacher stroke can predict teacher success through the mediation of students’ active and passive motivation. For this aim, a group of 437 Iranian university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students were targeted to respond to the teacher success, teacher stroke, and student motivation questionnaires. The main results of the study, obtained through running correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM), were first, while positive stroke showed a positive correlation with teacher success, it did not directly predict success; yet mediated by active motivation, it was a positive predictor of success; second, while teacher success had no significant relationship with total motivation, it was positively correlated with active and passive motivation, separately; third, in terms of gender differences, for the female participants, stroke, mediated by active motivation, was a better predictor of teacher success; fourth, high scores in positive, verbal, and conditional stroke were in association with high scores in active motivation, which significantly predicted teacher success. Based on the results, it can be concluded that teacher stroke, as an instance of positive teacher interpersonal communication behaviors, increases students’ active motivation for foreign language learning, which in turn results in their higher perceptions of English teachers’ professional success.
Reading comprehension is an incredibly complex, purposeful activity that involves simultaneous orchestration and integration of multiple processes. However, dominant perspectives suggest that two ...clusters of skills, word reading and language comprehension, account for successful reading. Such two-factor models are problematic because they do not easily account for complexities in reading comprehension processes or for contributions to reading comprehension of other individual difference variables related to the purposeful nature of reading, such as executive functions (EFs) and intrinsic motivation. Further, simple models may lead to oversimplification of research questions, curricula, and instructional practices, causing researchers and educators to miss important contributors to reading comprehension necessary for students to develop into skilled readers. In this study, the authors assessed the unique contributions of EFs, both domain-general and reading-specific, and cognitive intrinsic motivation (i.e., the desire to engage in effortful cognitive activities) to reading comprehension in 122 university students beyond language comprehension and word-reading skills. Findings confirm unique contributions of cognitive intrinsic motivation and reading-specific EF to students’ reading comprehension beyond established predictors and domain-general EFs. Findings also suggest complexities, such as impacts of language comprehension on word reading, as well as impacts of cognitive intrinsic motivation on both language and reading comprehension, that should be considered in theory and practice. Finally, because reading-specific EF contributed to reading comprehension directly and indirectly beyond controls, these findings underscore the importance of applying knowledge of EF to specific reading processes to better support students who struggle to understand text.
This article reports on a study involving first-year modern foreign languages students enrolled in German degree courses at two major universities in the United Kingdom. It explores the experience of ...these students from a motivational angle. A longitudinal mixed-methods approach was employed in order to address the time- and context-sensitive nature of motivational attributes. The data suggest that despite students' increasing wish to become proficient in German, their effort to engage with language learning decreased over the course of the year. This change occurred in conjunction with decreasing levels of intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. The relationships between motivational changes and contextual factors in higher education are discussed against the backdrop of students' transition experience from school to university. The article concludes by outlining pedagogical suggestions for how to counteract decreasing motivation of modern foreign languages students during their first year university studies.
While consensus exists about the critical role of learners’ motivation in second language acquisition, controlled investigations of the effects of teachers’ motivational strategies are limited. The ...research reported here used a quasi‐experimental design to assess the effects of motivational strategies used by Saudi English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers (N= 14) on Saudi EFL learners’ (N= 296) self‐reported learning motivation. The experimental treatment involved class‐time exposure to 10 preselected motivational strategies over an 8‐week period; the control group received traditional teaching methods. Multivariate analyses revealed a significant rise in learner motivation over time exclusively or predominantly among experimental vs. control learners, which held robust even when controlling for pretreatment group differences. These results provide compelling evidence that teachers’ motivational behaviors cause enhanced motivation in second language learners.
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