Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Amotivation and Indecision in the Decision-Making Processes Associated with University Entry

  • Published:
Research in Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study developed and tested two models that examined the decision-making processes of adolescents relating to entry into university, in terms of the extent to which they may be amotivated and undecided. The models incorporated variables derived from self-determination theory, expectancy-value theory, and research on occupational indecision. A modified version of a psychometrically rigorous survey instrument was used to collect data from 349 senior high school students attending three high schools in Sydney, Australia. Data were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling procedures. The refined versions of both models had good fit. The superior model suggested that: (a) family influences negatively predict amotivation with university entry (b) amotivation with university entry negatively predicts the valuing of interest/enjoyment and income due to university study, a desire for a “good” occupation, and expectations for success, and (c) amotivation with university entry positively predicts indecision with university entry.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adnett, N., & Slack, K. (2007). Are there economic incentives for non-traditional students to enter HE: The labour market as a barrier to widening participation. Higher Education Quarterly, 61(1), 23–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, A. (1998). What are ethnic minorities looking for? In T. Modood & T. Acland (Eds.), Race and higher education (pp. 51–73). London: Policy Studies Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen, J., Robbins, S. B., Casillas, A., & Oh, I. S. (2008). Third-year college retention and transfer: Effects in academic performance, motivation, and social connectedness. Research in Higher Education, 49(7), 647–664.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baker, S. R. (2003). A prospective longitudinal investigation of social problem solving appraisals on adjustment to university, stress, health, and academic motivation and performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 35(3), 569–591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ball, S. J., Davies, J., David, M., & Reay, D. (2002). ‘Classification’ and ‘judgment’: Social class and the ‘cognitive structures’ of choice of higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 23(1), 51–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, S., & Payea, K. (2004). Education pays 2004: The benefits of higher education for individuals and society. Washington, DC: The College Board.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bozick, R., & DeLuca, S. (2005). Better late than never? Delayed enrolment in the high school to college transition. Social Forces, 84(1), 531–554.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. T., Eisenberg, A. I., & Sawilowsky, S. S. (1997). Traditionality and the discriminating effect of expectations and occupational success and occupational values for women within math-oriented fields. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 50(3), 418–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, F.B. & Satorra, A. Principles and practice of scaled difference Chi-square testing. Structural Equation Modeling (in press).

  • Byrne, B. M. (1998). Structural equation modeling with LISREL, PRELIS, and SIMPLIS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, A. F., & La Nasa, S. M. (2000). Understanding the college choice process. In A. F. Cabrera & S. M. La Nasa (Eds.), Understanding the college choice of disadvantaged adolescents (pp. 5–22). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cabrera, A. F., & La Nasa, S. M. (2001). On the path to college: Three critical tasks facing America’s disadvantaged. Research in Higher Education, 42(2), 119–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Caro, D. H., McDonald, J. T., & Willms, J. D. (2009). Socio-economic status and academic trajectories from childhood to adolescence. Canadian Journal of Education, 32(3), 558–590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catsiapis, G. (1987). A model of educational investment decisions. Review of Economics and Statistics, 69(1), 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creed, P. A., Patton, W., & Prideaux, L. A. (2006). Causal relationship between career indecision and career decision-making self-efficacy. Journal of Career Development, 33(1), 47–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos, A., & Siguaw, J. A. (2000). Introducing LISREL. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (1995). In the mind of the actor: The structure of adolescents’ achievement task values and expectancy related beliefs. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21(3), 215–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gati, I., Krausz, M., & Osipow, S. H. (1996). A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision-making. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 43(4), 510–526.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Germeijs, V., & De Boeck, P. (2003). Career indecision: Three factors from decision theory. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 62(1), 11–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guay, F., Senécal, C., Gauthier, L., & Fernet, C. (2003). Predicting career indecision: A self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 50(2), 165–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guay, F., & Vallerand, R. J. (1997). Social context, student’s motivation, and academic achievement: Toward a process model. Social Psychology of Education, 1(3), 211–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., & Blanchard, C. (2000). On the assessment of situational intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The Situational Motivational Scale (SIMS). Motivation and Emotion, 24(3), 175–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hair, J. F., Jr, Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hancock, G. R., & Mueller, R. O. (2001). Rethinking construct reliability within the latent variable systems. In R. Cudeck, S. Du Toit, & D. Sörbom (Eds.), Structural equation modelling: Present and future—A festschrift in honour of Karl Jöreskog (pp. 195–216). Lincolnwood: Scientific Software International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hearn, J. C. (1992). Emerging variations in postsecondary attendance patterns: An investigation of part-time, delayed, and nondegree enrolment. Research in Higher Education, 33(6), 657–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hossler, D., Braxton, J., & Coopersmith, G. (1989). Understanding student college choice. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: A handbook of theory and research (pp. 231–288). New York: Agathon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hossler, D., & Gallagher, K. S. (1987). Studying college choice: A three-phase model and the implications for policymakers. College and University, 2(3), 207–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hossler, D., & Stage, F. (1992). Family and high school experience influences on the postsecondary educational plans of ninth-grade students. American Educational Research Journal, 29(2), 425–451.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, R. (2002). Socio-economic background and higher education participation: An analysis of school students’ aspirations and expectations. Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, F. L., & McMillan, J. (2001). Scoring occupational categories for social research: A review of current practice with Australian examples. Work, Employment and Society, 15(3), 539–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jöreskog, K. G. (1999). How large can a standardized coefficient be? Retrieved January 10, 2012, from http://www.ssicentral.com/lisrel/techdocs/HowLargeCanaStandardizedCoefficientbe.pdf.

  • Jung, J. Y., & McCormick, J. (2010). Amotivation and the occupational decision: An investigation of Australian senior high school students. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 38(4), 441–458.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jung, J. Y., & McCormick, J. (2011). Occupational decision-related processes for amotivated adolescents: Confirmation of a model. Journal of Career Development, 38(4), 275–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kao, G., & Tienda, M. (1998). Educational aspirations of minority youth. American Journal of Education, 106(3), 349–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modelling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kortesoja, S. L. (2009). Postsecondary choices of non-traditional-age students: Non-credit courses or a credential program? The Review of Higher Education, 33(1), 37–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, F. K., Sheldon, K. M., & Turban, D. B. (2003). Personality and the goal striving process: The influence of achievement goal patterns, goal level, and mental focus on performance and enjoyment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(2), 256–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leong, F. T. L., & Chervinko, S. (1996). Construct validity of career indecision: Negative personality traits as predictors of career indecision. Journal of Career Assessment, 4(3), 315–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacCallum, R. C., Browne, M. W., & Sugawara, H. M. (1996). Power analysis and determination of sample size for covariance structure modelling. Psychological Methods, 1(2), 130–149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martens, M. P. (2005). The use of structural equation modeling in counseling psychology research. The Counseling Psychologist, 33(3), 269–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, E. K., Gebhardt, W. A., & Garnefski, N. (2009). Self-generated goals and goal process appraisals: Relationships with sociodemographic factors and well-being. Journal of Adolescence, 32(3), 501–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, J., & McPherson, G. (2007). Expectancy-value motivation in the context of a music performance examination. Musicae Scientiae, Sp Issue, 37–52.

  • McDonough, P. M. (1997). Choosing colleges: How social class and schools structure opportunity. Albany: State University of New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moody, R. C., & Pesut, D. J. (2006). The motivation to care: Application and extension of motivation theory to professional nursing work. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 20(1), 15–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osipow, S. H. (1999). Assessing career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55(1), 147–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulsen, M. B. (2001). The economics of human capital and investment in higher education. In M. B. Paulsen & J. C. Smart (Eds.), The finance of higher education: Theory, research, policy, and practice (pp. 55–94). New York: Agathon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perna, L. W. (2000). Differences in the decision to attend college among African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites. The Journal of Higher Education, 71(2), 117–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perna, L. W. (2006). Studying college choice: A proposed conceptual model. In J. C. Smart (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (Vol. XXI, pp. 99–157). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perna, L. W., & Titus, M. A. (2005). The relationship between parental involvement as social capital and college enrolment: An examination of racial/ethnic group differences. The Journal of Higher Education, 76(5), 485–518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preacher, K. J., & Coffman, D. L. (2006). Computing power and minimum sample size for RMSEA [Computer software]. Available from http://quantpsy.org/.

  • Quintana, S. M., & Maxwell, S. E. (1999). Implications of recent developments in structural equation modeling for counseling psychology. The Counseling Psychologist, 27(4), 485–527.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ratelle, C. F., Guay, F., Vallerand, R. J., Larose, S., & Senécal, C. (2007). Autonomous, controlled, and amotivated types of academic motivation: A person-oriented analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 99(4), 734–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reay, D., Davies, J., David, M., & Ball, S. J. (2001). Choice of degree or degrees of choice? Class, ‘race’, and the higher education choice process. Sociology, 35(4), 855–874.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. (1990). Internal versus external control of reinforcement: A case history of a variable. American Psychologist, 45(4), 489–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowan-Kenyon, H. T. (2007). Predictors of delayed college enrolment and the impact of socioeconomic status. The Journal of Higher Education, 78(2), 188–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, S. H. (1999). A theory of cultural values and some implications for work. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 48(1), 23–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sepich, R. T. (1987). A review of the correlates and measurements of career indecision. Journal of Career Development, 14(1), 8–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sewell, W., & Shah, V. (1968). Social class, parental encouragement, and educational aspirations. American Journal of Sociology, 73(5), 559–572.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tinsley, H. E. A. (1992). Career decision making and career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 41(3), 209–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallerand, R. J., & Bissonnette, R. (1992). Intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivational styles as predictors of behavior: A prospective study. Journal of Personality, 60(3), 599–620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vallerand, R. J., Fortier, M. S., & Guay, F. (1997). Self-determination and persistence in a real life setting: Toward amotivational model of high school dropout. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(5), 1161–1176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wells, R. S., Seifert, T. A., Padgett, R. D., Park, S., & Umbach, P. D. (2011). Why do more women than men want to earn a four-year degree? Exploring the effects of gender, social origin, and social capital on educational expectations. The Journal of Higher Education, 82(1), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weston, R., & Gore, P. A. (2006). A brief guide to structural equation modeling. The Counseling Psychologist, 34(5), 719–751.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. S. (2000). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 68–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Jae Yup Jung

Authors
  1. Jae Yup Jung
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jae Yup Jung.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jung, J.Y. Amotivation and Indecision in the Decision-Making Processes Associated with University Entry. Res High Educ 54, 115–136 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-012-9267-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-012-9267-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation