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Achievement goals among high school students: evidences of factorial validity and internal consistency of a measure

The present study aimed at knowing evidences of factorial validity and internal consistency of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire to the Brazilian milieu. Moreover, it attempted to evaluate to what extent the scores on this instrument correlate themselves with indicators of scholar performance. The participants were 307 high school students from two public schools (68%) and one private school (32%), from João Pessoa city. Their mean age was 17.6 (SD=3.94), and the most of them were female (61.2%). Results of the Principal Components analysis suggested a multi-factor structure, with four theorized components of goals: mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance. All components were corroborated by confirmatory factor analyses, which tested different alternative models. The mastery-approach goals described most of the participants, and their scores were positively correlated with scholar performance. These findings were discussed based on the literature about achievement goals.

goals; achievement; motivation; scholar performance; questionnaire


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