TY - JOUR

T1 - Measuring current achievement motivation with the QCM

T2 - Short form development and investigation of measurement invariance

AU - Freund, Philipp Alexander

AU - Kuhn, Jörg-Tobias

AU - Holling, Heinz

PY - 2011/10

Y1 - 2011/10

N2 - This article explores the measurement properties of the Questionnaire on Current Motivation (QCM; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Burns, 2001), which measures four factors of current achievement motivation (anxiety, challenge, interest, and probability of success) in the context of taking an abstract reasoning test. Two studies were conducted. In study 1, the measurement model of the QCM was tested, and a short form consisting of 12 of the original 18 QCM items was derived. Data were obtained from N= 350 students completing the QCM in anticipation of working on a test of Latin Square Tasks. In study 2, the measurement properties of the short form were replicated with data from a sample of N= 509 students. Measurement invariance with respect to gender was investigated using multigroup CFA models. The results showed that the assumptions of equal numbers of factors, factor loadings, and residual variances could be confirmed, but evidence for full intercept invariance was not obtained. There were significant differences in the latent means for anxiety and probability of success between female and male test takers, but none of these two factors had an influence on actual test performance, which was instead significantly predicted by interest in the task.

AB - This article explores the measurement properties of the Questionnaire on Current Motivation (QCM; Rheinberg, Vollmeyer, & Burns, 2001), which measures four factors of current achievement motivation (anxiety, challenge, interest, and probability of success) in the context of taking an abstract reasoning test. Two studies were conducted. In study 1, the measurement model of the QCM was tested, and a short form consisting of 12 of the original 18 QCM items was derived. Data were obtained from N= 350 students completing the QCM in anticipation of working on a test of Latin Square Tasks. In study 2, the measurement properties of the short form were replicated with data from a sample of N= 509 students. Measurement invariance with respect to gender was investigated using multigroup CFA models. The results showed that the assumptions of equal numbers of factors, factor loadings, and residual variances could be confirmed, but evidence for full intercept invariance was not obtained. There were significant differences in the latent means for anxiety and probability of success between female and male test takers, but none of these two factors had an influence on actual test performance, which was instead significantly predicted by interest in the task.

KW - Psychology

KW - Achievement motivation

KW - Latin Square Task

KW - Measurement invariance

KW - Multigroup analysis

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79960390174&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2011.05.033

DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2011.05.033

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 51

SP - 629

EP - 634

JO - Personality and Individual Differences

JF - Personality and Individual Differences

SN - 0191-8869

IS - 5

ER -