Why children differ in motivation to learn Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9-16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPersonality and individual differences Vol. 80; no. 80; pp. 51 - 63
Main Authors Kovas, Yulia, Garon-Carrier, Gabrielle, Boivin, Michel, Petrill, Stephen A, Plomin, Robert, Malykh, Sergey, Spinath, Frank M, Murayama, Kou, Ando, Juko, Bogdanova, Olga, Brendgen, Mara, Dionne, Ginette, Forget-Dubois, Nadine, Galajinsky, Eduard V, Gottschling, Juliana, Guay, Frédéric, Lemelin, Jean-Pascal, Logan, Jessica A.r, Yamagata, Shinji, Shikishima, Chizuru, Spinath, Birgit, Thompson, Lee A, Tikhomirova, Tatiana N, Tosto, Maria G, Tremblay, Richard, Vitaro, Frank
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2015
Pergamon Press
Subjects
Cross-cultural study
Deutschland
Differenz
Enjoyment
Fragebogen
Freude
Großbritannien
Individual differences
Individuum
Internationaler Vergleich
Japan
Jugendlicher
Kanada
Kind
Kompetenz
Leistungsmotivation
Motivation
Russland
Schulfach
Schüler
Selbstwahrnehmung
Self-perceived ability
Teacher/classroom effect
Twin studies
Umfrage
Ursachenforschung
USA
Zwilling
Teacher/classroom effect
Self-perceived ability
Twin studies
Enjoyment
Cross-cultural study
Individual differences
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Summary:Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9-16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency across ages, school subjects, and cultures. Contrary to common belief, enjoyment of learning and children's perceptions of their competence were no less heritable than cognitive ability. Genetic factors explained approximately 40% of the variance and all of the observed twins' similarity in academic motivation. Shared environmental factors, such as home or classroom, did not contribute to the twin's similarity in academic motivation. Environmental influences stemmed entirely from individual specific experiences. (übernommen).
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:0191-8869
1873-3549
1873-3549
DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006