The main goal of the present study was to investigate the motivational orientations and beliefs about effort, intelligence, luck, and about the necessary conditions to achieve success in school as well as the expectations to overcome a poor academic performance in a sample of 120 students from elementary school. The relationship between such variables, and their correlation to academic performance, gender and school grades was also analyzed. Data were acquired by applying the Structured Interview of Educational Beliefs and Motivational Orientation for Student and School Achievement Test from Stein in an individual basis. Results indicate a predominance of intrinsic motivation and a highly appropriate beliefs pattern to motivation and learning. Given the educational implications involved, boys, repeater and extrinsically motivated student beliefs must be carefully taken into account to better plan more focused interventions.
Motivational orientation; educational beliefs; academic achievement
