What is it about?
Early adolescents (aged 11–13) tend to be directed by stable self-control, which is strongly correlated with their goal pursuit to master and develop academic skills. Thus, cultivating in them habitual self-control (e.g., implementation intention) and encouraging its regular practice can enhance both their self-control and adaptive goal pursuit. Conversely, middle adolescents (aged 14–16) tend to be guided by attainment values related to their identity formation, which in turn leads to improvements in self-control. Therefore, providing them opportunities to find personal meaning (e.g., career endeavors) in their academic tasks can facilitate effortful and deliberate self-control behaviors.
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Why is it important?
Adolescence has been highlighted as the second critical period of self-control development. However, there is a paucity of systematic approaches to understanding self-control development and its potential precursors after controlling for individuals’ trait-like self-control. Educational psychologists have recently examined the causal relationship between self-control and achievement motivation, particularly attainment value and mastery-approach goal pursuit, during adolescence. Previous studies have primarily focused on which type of achievement motivation better predicts self-control by employing surveys or experimental approaches at the between-person level. However, this study examined the longitudinal causality between achievement motivation and self-control at the within-person level after controlling for relatively stable traits.
Perspectives
Writing this journal article was a great pleasure, as it allowed me to propose a new perspective on the relationships between self-control and motivation during adolescence by integrating diverse perspectives from educational psychology, developmental psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. These fields provided valuable insights and guidance for my future directions as a young scholar. Another rewarding aspect of this paper was the use of an up-to-date statistical methodology, random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling. I would like to extend special thanks to Dr. Rebecca J. Collie, the action editor of this paper, for her constructive feedback throughout the revision process.
Minhye Lee
Daegu National University of Education
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Longitudinal relationships between academic self-control and achievement motivation during different adolescence stages., Journal of Educational Psychology, November 2024, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/edu0000922.
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