Abstract
According to the longitudinal results of international assessments (e.g., Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS] and Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA]), East Asian learners in Confucian heritage cultures (e.g., Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore and China) have frequently demonstrated academic achievement that outshines their Western counterparts for decades. However, the results of such assessments also showed that East Asian students tend to have low learning motivation or negative attitudes toward learning. In the same vein, previous studies in Taiwan also showed that many undergraduates had low interest in their majors. The “high achievement but low motivation” phenomenon has aroused great interest in cultural psychologists and educators. Contemporary Western theories of learning motivation entails two approaches: Need-orientated (e.g. self-determination theory) and cognitive-oriented (e.g. implicit mindset theory) approach. However, neither approach could comprehensively explain the learning motivations and beliefs of Taiwan students. From the perspective of cultural psychology, the psychology and behaviors of pursuing academic achievement of Taiwanese are influenced by Confucian cultural system. Therefore, we proposed a “theoretical framework of Chinese achievement goals” (Chen et al., 2009) to conceptualize the motivation for academic pursuits in societies influenced by Confucian heritage. We argued that, in Taiwan and many other East Asian societies, two types of achievement goals can be differentiated: Vertical goals and personal goals. A vertical goal is socially constructed and is characterized by high expectations from significant others (such as parents) and strong sense of role obligation. Those who work hard on vertical goals tend to be viewed as virtuous people, while those who do not may be seen as flawed in character. On the other hand, a personal goal is constructed on sources other than expectations from others. Such goals may include personal hobbies with autonomous interests. Parents may not hold high expectations on personal goals for their children. According to our theoretical framework, the primary values, motivation types, psycho-social functions and patterns of attribution are different between these two kinds of goal. We conducted a series of empirical studies (Chen et al., 2009; Fwu et al., 2014, 2016, 2017; Huang et al., 2015) and the results supported our hypotheses. Firstly, for Taiwanese students, parents and teachers, pursuing academic achievement is an important vertical goal with highly social expectations. Students who meet such expectations are deemed good students and are more likely to be viewed as possessing high moral virtues. Secondly, in pursuit of academic or vertical goals, students tended to attribute their failure to lack of effort. However, in pursuit of non-vertical goals, students tended to attribute success to internal factors and failure to external factors. Besides, students’ identification with their role obligation is positively correlated with their learning engagements. Moreover, according to our theoretical framework, we argued that people may develop two kinds of beliefs about effort on academic learning: Obligation-oriented and improvement-oriented beliefs. To hold the obligation-oriented belief about effort (OBE) is to believe that making effort in learning is a student’s role obligation. To hold the improvement-oriented belief about effort (IBE) is to believe that effort can conquer one’s limitations and improve one’s academic performance. The results of our empirical studies showed that students’ OBE and IBE are correlated with their affective (i.e., feelings of indebtedness to oneself/parents), cognitive (i.e., effort attribution), and behavioral attitudes (i.e., striving behaviors) after academic failure (Chen et al., 2019; Fwu et al., 2018). Furthermore, we found that elementary school children’s beliefs about effort could be influenced by their parents’ effort beliefs, and children’s OBE is positively correlated with their learning engagements in school. Besides, high school teachers’ OBE and IBE are correlated with their affective, cognitive and behavioral attitudes toward students (Chen et al., 2016). In other words, the values and beliefs about effort may be transmitted from generation to generation via the socialization of family and school. The practical implications of our theoretical framework and concepts for education and counselling are discussed.