Abstract
According to the theoretical framework of Chinese goals of achievement (Chen, Wang, Wei, Fwu, & Hwang, 2009), the learning behaviors of Chinese students are motivated by both intrinsic interests in achieving academic goals and role obligations attached to social expectations. However, the hypothesis of social-psychological functions of students' role identity has not been examined by previous studies. In the present study, the authors propose a ”twofactor model” of learning motivations to elaborate on the relationships among Chinese students' academic identity, role identity, learning satisfaction, academic engagement, and performance. Scales were developed to measure students' learning experiences in real life. Participants include 176 undergraduates (101 females, 75 males) from two universities in Taiwan. The results of path model analysis showed that: (1) students' academic identity was positively correlated with their learning satisfaction; (2) students' role identity was positively correlated with their academic engagement; (3) students' academic engagement was positively correlated with their academic performance; and (4) students' learning satisfaction was the complete mediator of the relationship between their academic identity and academic engagement. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed.