Do motivational messages predict motivation to learn and performance?

Abstract

Teachers can use motivational messages during classes to engage their students in school-tasks. These messages are characterized by both the frame (gainframed vs loss-framed) and by the motivational appeals within them (external, introjected, identified, and intrinsic). For example, teachers can rely on gainframed intrinsic messages such as “If you work hard, you will learn interesting facts” or they can rely on loss-framed extrinsic messages such as “Unless you work hard, you will get into trouble”. The present study examines how teachers’ motivational messages relate with student’s motivation to learn and performance. A total of 1209 students between grades 8 and 12 participated in the study. Participants completed self-report measures of teachers’ motivational messages and motivation to learn. Performance was measured using students’ grades obtained from school records. We performed a multilevel structural equation model (ML-SEM) to test the hypothesised relations among variables. ML-SEM showed that teacher motivational messages indirectly predicted student’s performance via motivation to learn. The present findings highlight a resource teacher can rely on to motivate students and improve their academic outcomes. These results set the basis for future educational interventions targeting teaching practices.