Predictors of instrumental motivation for mathematics in PISA 2012. The role of gender, self-concept, helplessness, negative emotions, worries and intrinsic motivation

Magdalena Jabłońska , Sylwia Bedyńska , Łukasz Gradowski , Grzegorz Sędek

Abstract

The aim of our study was to define predictors of instrumental motivation for mathematics. In our research, we used the data on the Polish sample of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) from 2012. We hypothesized that motivation to engage in mathematics at later stages of education and in professional career, called “instrumental motivation” in the project, can be predicted based on gender, mathematics self-concept, intrinsic motivation, as well as worries about coping with mathematics and negative emotions. Using structural equation modelling, with gender and mathematics self-concept as predictors, and negative emotions, intrinsic motivation and worries about one’s math skills as mediators, we showed that helplessness in mathematics, indirectly determined by gender and mathematics self-concept, has an indirect effect on instrumental motivation, only through higher worries about one’s math abilities. Instrumental motivation turned out to be also strongly related to intrinsic motivation, which in turn is linked to a positive mathematics self-concept.