Social goals in early adolescence: Development, gender, and schooling as contexts.

Abstract

Popular wisdom suggests that adolescents' social motivation interferes with their academic learning, however little empirical research in this area is available. This dissertation addresses issues related to the definition of different types of social motivation (social goals), the development of goals over time, relations between social and academic goals, and gender differences in social motivation. An examination of the social and academic goals of 280 students, across three time points in 8th and 9th grade revealed that academic goals of learning, appearing able, and receiving good grades (task, relative ability, and extrinsic goals) did not change. Social goals for forming close friendships and for gaining social status declined. Girls endorsed status goals less than did boys but, in path analyses, girls' status goals were related to declines in relative ability and exlrinsic goals over time. The role of social goals and perceptions of the educational environment in predicting changes in students' affect in school was examined using data from 444 6th grade students. Increased positive affect in school was related to friendship and responsibility goals, as well as to a feeling of belonging in school and the perception that classes emphasized mastery and improvement (a task goal orientation). Increased negative affect was related to friendship goals and the perception that classes emphasized comparison (a relative ability goal orientation), and was inversely related to responsibility goals and school belonging. Finally, the associations between students' social goals and affect were stronger when they also reported a sense of school belonging and a task goal orientation in their classes. The discussion highlights the need for further research that examines (a) combinations of different social and academic goals in interaction, (b) the role of classroom and school contexts in influencing social goals, and (c) gender and developmental differences in the importance and operation of social goals.