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Editorial: Insights from research on Asian students' achievement motivation Kit‐Tai Hau Professor a & Irene T. Ho b a The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong b The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Version of record first published: 01 Sep 2008.

To cite this article: Kit‐Tai Hau Professor & Irene T. Ho (2008): Editorial: Insights from research on Asian students' achievement motivation, International Journal of Psychology, 43:5, 865-869

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Editorial: Insights from research on Asian students’ achievement motivation

Kit-Tai Hau

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin,

Hong Kong

Irene T. Ho

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Keywords: Achievement goal; Achievement motivation; Asian; Collectivism.

The study of achievement motivation in different

cultural groups has been of great interest to

researchers in the past two decades. The impor-

tance of such research, as pointed out by Pintrich

(2003), is that discoveries of similarities and

differences in the application of existing theories

in different cultures provide the chance to revise,

accommodate and expand those theories so that

they could become better and more comprehen-

sive. It is believed that the complexity of achieve-

ment motivation cannot be fully understood

without examining these theories in different

contexts and cultural settings.

Among the various cross-cultural studies on

academic motivation, research on Asian students

has received particular attention, partly due to their

outstanding performance in national or interna-

tional studies of student achievement. Different

views have been put forward to explain or comment

on this phenomenon (Leung, 2002; Stevenson &

Lee, 1996; Sue & Okazaki, 1990). To provide a

background to the collection of papers in this

special section, we will first highlight some salient

cultural factors affecting Asian students’ learning.

There will then follow a summative introduction to

the seven studies in this special section.

Asian cultural context

While we are aware that simple dichotomies such as

East–West, individualistic–collectivistic (Hofstede,

1983) or Socratic–Confucian (Tweed & Lehman,

2002) are far from adequate in describing cultural

variations in the world, the broadly defined

collectivistic-Confucian cultural tradition has been

most widely adopted as the framework for under-

standing the Asian cultural context. This cultural

tradition is shared by many Asian groups to various

extents, including the Chinese and the Japanese,

who have been most frequently studied in research

on student motivation. Sociocultural themes that

have been alleged to be salient in affecting achieve-

ment motivation in this tradition include collecti-

vism, the virtue orientation in learning with an

emphasis on effort, and high educational aspira-

tions.

Collectivistic orientation. Western students are

typically characterized as individualistic, indepen-

dent, and competitive, whereas Japanese, Chinese,

and in general Asians are believed to be more

group- or collectivistic-oriented with high compli-

ance to authority (Hofstede, 1983; Li, 2002; Tseng,

2004). Sagie, Elizur, and Yamauchi (1996) com-

pared the structure of achievement motivation

among adults and students in the US, the

Netherlands, Israel, Hungary and Japan. They

found that the individualistic (the US), collectivis-

tic (Japan, Hungary), and mixed (the Netherlands,

Israel) societies displayed similar multifaceted

structures of achievement motivation. However,

the collectivistic Japanese and Hungarian partici-

pants demonstrated significantly lower personal

achievement tendencies than the more individua-

listic US participants.

Recent findings have revealed that this assump-

tion of Asian students being group-oriented in their

learning requires closer examination. Li (2006)

asked 259 Chinese adolescents aged 12 to 19 to

respond to 10 open-ended sentences on their goals

# 2008 International Union of Psychological Science

http://www.psypress.com/ijp DOI: 10.1080/00207590701838030

Correspondence should be addressed to Professor Kit-Tai

Hau, Faculty of Education, The Chinese University of Hong

Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong. (E-mail: [email protected]).

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2008, 43 (5), 865–869

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(desired future outcomes) and sense of agency (acts

done intentionally) in learning. She found

that Chinese students talked a great deal more about individual than social goals and agency.

Goals of aspiration, cognitive development, social

contribution, socioeconomic advancement, and

moral development were salient and frequently

mentioned. The results from this study suggest that

to the Chinese, learning is a unique domain in which

students show greater and more refined individua-

listic and independent self-construals. This indivi- dualistic orientation is in great contrast to the

collectivistic orientations that Chinese people

usually display in social and family relationships.

Conceptions of learning and achievement. Tweed

and Lehman (2002) describe differences in Western

and Eastern approaches to learning simply in terms

of the Socratic–Confucian dichotomy. The former is characterized by ‘‘overt and private questioning,

expression of personal hypotheses, and a desire for

self-directed tasks’’ (p. 93), while the latter is

distinguished by ‘‘effort-focused conceptions of

learning, pragmatic orientations to learning, and

acceptance of behavioral reform as an academic

goal described’’ (p. 93). Other researchers have

proposed alternative conceptions. For example, through analyses of students’ perceptions of model

learners, Li (2005) concludes that Western learners

adopt the mind orientation in learning while

Chinese learners adopt the virtue orientation, with

the aim to ‘‘perfect themselves morally and socially,

to achieve mastery of the material, and to

contribute to society’’ (p. 191).

Associated with this argument for basic differ- ences in conceptions of learning are calls for

caution in interpreting cross-cultural findings. For

example, Bempechat and Drago-Severson (1999)

challenged Stevenson’s (Stevenson & Lee, 1996)

conclusions about Asian students’ achievement

based on Western conceptions of effort and

ability. They argued that these conceptions had

been superimposed onto the Asian students with- out understanding their culture-specific meaning

(see also Hau & Salili, 1991; Li, 2004).

Educational aspirations. The high regard for

educational achievement is a central value in the

Confucian culture. Consequently both Asian

parents and students put a lot of emphasis on

the importance of education and harbour high aspirations for academic achievement. In a study

analysing the US National Educational

Longitudinal Study data, Goyette and Xie (1999)

compared the educational expectations of Asian

American students against those of Anglo

American students. After controlling for students’

SES and background characteristics, academic

ability, and parental expectation, Asian

American students still consistently displayed

higher educational aspirations than Anglo

American students. Goyette and Xie thus con-

cluded, ‘‘it is indeed remarkable that so many

Asian ethnic groups with diverse cultural heritages

and immigration experiences actually converge in

this important respect’’ (p. 33).

Overview of this Special Section

The seven empirical studies reported in this special

section are related to a set of papers on achieve-

ment motivation, presented at the 26th

International Congress of Applied Psychology

held in Athens, 16–21 July, 2006. They reflect the

current trends of research in this area, in particular

its increasingly diverse nature.

In terms of the cultural groups under study, while

the Chinese continue to be a focus of investigation in

four of the seven studies (Chang & Wong, 2008; Ho

& Hau, 2008; Liem & Nie, 2008; Zhou & Salili,

2008), Filipino and Indonesian students have also

been included (Bernardo, 2008; Liem & Nie, 2008),

alongside Asian American and Asian Australian

students (McInerney, 2008; Zusho, 2008).

Moreover, the approach to examining cultural

influences range from identifying motivational

characteristics in a single ethnic group residing in

one country (Bernardo, 2008; Chang & Wong, 2008;

Ho & Hau, 2008; Zhou & Salili, 2008), comparing

differences between two or more ethnic groups in

one country (McInerney, 2008; Zusho, 2008), to

comparing differences between two ethnic groups

residing in two countries (Liem & Nie, 2008). It is

clear that while researchers continue to talk in terms

of simple East–West differences in cross-cultural

investigations of student motivation, the multiplicity

and complexity of cultural differentiations involved

are in fact far greater. Liem and Nie’s comparison of

Chinese and Indonesian students is an example of

researchers moving beyond the dominant focus on

Western versus Asian students. It demonstrates that

variations exist among groups that belong to the

Asian-collectivistic culture, as collectivism would

interact with other sociopolitical factors to produce

effects on individuals’ behaviour. All these point to

the need to consider carefully which groups

to compare and what level of cultural comparisons

to make in order to generate meaningful results for

particular purposes.

As regards the motivation constructs being

studied and how they are examined, the seven

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studies are also quite varied. It is obvious that the

goal theory still receives most attention, as it is a

central motivation construct being examined in five of the seven studies (Bernardo, 2008; Chang &

Wong, 2008; Ho & Hau, 2008; Liem & Nie, 2008;

McInerney, 2008). In particular, special attention

is being paid to the social dimension of achieve-

ment goals, which has been less examined in

Western research but is considered a salient feature

in Asian motivation.

In Chang and Wong’s (2008) study of Chinese Singaporean university students, attempts were

made to develop a measure of socially oriented

achievement goals in terms of significant relation-

ships: family, peers, teachers, and community.

These goals were found to be positively related to

both mastery and performance goals but variably

related to different achievement motives (mastery

motive, work ethics, competitiveness motive) and outcome measures (interest, educational aspira-

tion, test anxiety).

Bernardo (2008) had a different perspective in his

examination of the nature of Filipino university

students’ achievement goals. He adopted the widely

used Western three-dimensional goal structure

(mastery, performance-approach, performance-

avoidance) and examined the individual and social dimensions of these goals. Results showed that

students’ socially oriented motivations (parent-

oriented or teacher-oriented) were closely related

to their achievement goals. The finding that mastery

and performance-approach goals were positively

correlated and that they both produced positive

effects on achievement was consistent with previous

findings with other Asian groups (e.g., Chan, Lai, Leung, & Moore, 2005; Ee & Moore, 2004; Ho,

Hau, & Salili, in press).

Liem and Nie’s (2008) study further explored how

values might represent the deeper structure under-

lying achievement orientations and goals. Their

comparison of Chinese and Indonesian secondary

school students throws light on the fact that while it

is useful to compare goals and orientations across groups, the cultural meaning of particular motiva-

tional tendencies could not be clearly defined

without reference to the underlying value systems;

and these value systems could vary even within the

same broadly defined cultural group.

In Ho and Hau’s (2008) study of Chinese

secondary school students, the joint effects of

goals, strategies and effort on achievement were investigated. Results showed that goal orienta-

tion and effort were more significant predictors

of achievement than the strategies used in

learning. As in Bernardo’s (2008) study, the

finding of a positive relationship between

mastery and performance-approach goals as well

as their positive effects on achievement were

replicated. Furthermore, it was found that positive

relationships also existed for the apparently

dichotomous cooperative/competitive or under-

standing/memorizing approaches to learning.

Such deviations from Western theories are worth

further exploration.

McInerney (2008) examined achievement goals

alongside facilitating conditions, sense of self, and

engagement in learning to see how they differed

across ethnic groups in Australia. In this study,

Asian-background students, who were the highest

achieving group, were distinguished from the other

groups mainly in their sense of purpose, educa-

tional aspirations, and positive attitudes towards

school. All these are important features of the

Confucian culture. Nevertheless, it was also

observed that on the whole, all groups displayed

quite similar motivational profiles. Decreased

differences across ethnic groups had probably

resulted from acculturation of the migrant groups,

although it was interesting to note that some

influences of the culture of origin had persisted.

Results from Zusho’s (2008) study of Asian

American and Anglo American students also

suggested the acculturation effect in that more

similarities than differences were noted between

the two groups. Although the findings did not

support the hypothesis that Anglo American

students had a greater tendency towards self-

enhancement, the general premise that people with

an independent view of self have a greater tendency

to self-enhance was supported. This study is unique

among the studies reported in this section in that it

used an experimental design rather than relying on

simple correlation analyses or comparisons of group

means based on questionnaire data, from which

causal effects could not be inferred. More experi-

mental studies of this kind are needed in future

cross-cultural research so that more definite con-

clusions about causation could be drawn.

Findings in Zhou and Salili’s (2008) study on

the relationship between intrinsic motivation and

home factors among Chinese preschoolers suggest

that while autonomy or personal choice would

enhance Western children’s intrinsic motivation,

this value for freedom may be less relevant and

important among Asian children. Results from

this study echo those in some earlier studies

(d’Ailly, 2003; Iyengar & Lepper, 1999) but

contradict findings by other researchers

(Vansteenkiste, Zhou, Lens, & Soenens, 2005).

More research is needed to take a closer look at

the nature of motivational dynamics such as

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autonomy and independence, or control and

conformity, in different cultural contexts.

Both Zusho’s (2008) and Zhou and Salili’s (2008) studies point to the fact that self-construals

may be significant mediators of the effects of

individualism-collectivism on motivation and

behaviour. In particular, a less autonomous or

more interdependent view of self adopted by

individuals in collectivistic societies might be a

salient factor behind the different nature of their

intrinsic motivation or self-enhancement when compared to their Western counterparts.

To sum up, this collection of papers provide us

with a glimpse of recent research related to Asian

achievement motivation. Some themes and meth-

ods appear to be more popular, such as the

emphasis on achievement goals. The methods used

largely involve the analysis of self-report ques-

tionnaire data, which allows us to identify relationships among constructs and describe group

differences. Nevertheless, we also see significant

diversity in perspectives and methodology in the

various studies. Overall, they point to the need to

extend research to a wider range of cultural

groups, encompassing more varied motivation

constructs and outcome measures. More refined

instrumentation and study designs are also neces- sary to generate more precise findings.

The results from the present studies generally

reveal that there are clear differences in motiva-

tional processes among individuals from different

cultural backgrounds. Yet mixed and sometimes

inconsistent findings indicate that we are still far

from arriving at a systematic understanding of the

complex processes, where multiple perspectives may be involved.

A point to note is that while the interest in

studying Asian students’ motivation has at least

in part arisen from their outstanding achievement,

very few studies have succeeded in identifying

specific motivational constructs or profiles that

have strong links to actual achievement. In the

few studies in this section that have included achievement or other constructs as outcome

measures, the motivation-outcome relationships

reported do not appear to be strong. Again,

systematic investigations including a wider range

of motivational constructs and outcome measures

might help to generate a clearer picture about

the role of motivational processes in academic

achievement. Culture has increasingly become an important

construct in psychological research. However, it is

often difficult to arrive at an integrative under-

standing of the various findings from cross-

cultural studies, as the instruments used are highly

varied and the participants from different cultural

groups are not always directly comparable. All in

all, despite the various limitations with the studies

reported here, they have generated useful insights

for further research in this area.

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