Students' Motivational Traits in Science: a cross‐age study

This paper reports the results of a cross‐age study dealing with high school students' motivational traits in science. Students' motivational traits in science were explored by a questionnaire whose items were written to correspond to four motivational patterns: achievement, curiosity, conscientiousness and sociability. The major findings of this study are: (1) most students may be assigned to one or a combination of two motivational traits in science; (2) most students may be categorised as ‘sociable'; (3) students' ‘sociability’, ‘curiosity’ and ‘conscientiousness’ motivations in science do not undergo any substantial change in secondary school; (4) more boys than girls may be categorised as ‘achievers’ in junior high school but the gap narrows and even reverses in senior high school; (5) more boys than girls from grade 8 to 10 may be categorised as ‘curious’, but the relationship becomes equal in grade 11; (6) more girls than boys may be categorised as ‘conscientious’ throughout all the grades; and (7) girls and boys may be almost equally categorised as ‘sociable’ throughout all the grades. 1995 British Educational Research Association