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School Psychology Review, 2002, Volume 31, No. 3, pp. 3 13 - 3 2 7 Motivation a s an Enabler for Academic Success Elizabeth A. Linnenbrink University of Toledo Paul R Pintrich Th e University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Abstract. Student motivation as an academic enabler for school success is dis- cussed. Contrary to many views, however, the authors conceive of student motiva- tion as a multifaceted construct with different components. Accordingly, the ar- ticle includes a discussion of four key components of student motivation including academnic self-efficacy, attributions, intrinsic motivation, and achievement goals. Research on each of these four components is described, research relating these four components to academic achievement and academic enablers is eviewed, and suggestions are offered for instruction and assessment. Psychologists an d educators have long considered the role o f motivation in student achievement an d learning (for a review see Graham & Weiner, 1996). Much o f th e early research on student achievement an d learning separated cognitive an d motivational factors an d pursued very distinct lines o f research that di d no t integrate cognition an d motivation. However, since at least the 1980s there ha s been a sustained research focus on ho w moti- vational an d cognitive factors interact an d jointly influence student learning and achieve- ent. In more colloquial terms, there is a recog- nition that students need both the cognitive sIdil an d the motivational will to do well in school (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). This miniseries con- tinues in this tradition by highlighting the con- tribution o f both motivational an d cognitive factors for student academic success. Th e integration of motivational and cog- nitive factors wa s facilitated by th e shift in motivational theories from traditional achieve- ment motivation models to social cognitive models of motivation (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). On e of th e mostimportant assumptions o f social cognitive models of motivation is that motivation is a dynamic, multifaceted phenom- enon that contrasts with the quantitative view taken by traditional models o f motivation. In other words, these newer social cognitive mod- els do no t assume that students are either "moti- vated" or "not motivated" or that student moti- vation can be characterized in some quantita- tive manner between two endpoints on a single continuum. Rather, social cognitive models stress thatstudents canbemotivatedin multiple ways an d the important issue is understanding ho w an d why students are motivated for school achievement. This change in focus implies that teachers or school psychologists should no t label students as "motivated" or "not moti- vated" in some global fashion. Furthermore, assessment instruments that generate a single global "motivation" score fo r students ma y be misleading in terms o f a more multifaceted understanding o f student motivation. Accord- Address correspondence regarding this article to Elizabeth A. Linnenbrink, College o f Education, The University of Toledo, Mail Stop 923, Foundations of Education, 2801 West Bancroft Street, Toledo, OH 43606. Email: [email protected].
