Subject Specific Mastery Motivation in Moldovan Middle School Students

Area of Science:

• Educational Psychology
• Child Development
• Multilingual Education

Background:

• Mastery motivation is vital for cognitive development in children.
• Understanding subject-specific motivation is crucial in diverse educational settings.
• The Republic of Moldova's multilingual system presents a unique context for this research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate subject-specific mastery motivation among Moldovan students.
• To compare motivation levels across language groups (Romanian vs. Russian).
• To examine motivation differences based on grade level and gender.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional data collected from 5th, 7th, and 9th graders.
• Utilized the Subject Specific Mastery Motivation Questionnaire (SSMMQ).
• Validated SSMMQ versions and assessed measurement invariance across language, grade, and gender.

Main Results:

• Full scalar invariance was achieved across grades and gender; partial invariance across language.
• No significant differences in mastery motivation were found between Romanian and Russian language samples.
• Girls reported significantly higher mastery motivation than boys in Reading, Art, and Music.

Conclusions:

• Latent mean differences can be validly compared across groups.
• Gender is a significant factor in subject-specific mastery motivation, with girls showing higher levels in certain subjects.
• Reading motivation remains stable across grades, while Art motivation declines from 5th to 9th grade.