Profiles of Reading Motivation among African American and Caucasian Students

Previous research has investigated motivations for reading by examining positive or affirming motivations, including intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Related to them, we examined two negative, or undermining, motivations consisting of avoidance and perceived difficulty. We proposed that the m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of literacy research 2009-07, Vol.41 (3), p.317-353
Main Authors: Guthrie, John T., Coddington, Cassandra S., Wigfield, Allan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American Students
African Americans
Comparative analysis
Grade 5
Literacy
Motivation
Profiles
Race
Reading
Reading Achievement
Reading Comprehension
Reading Motivation
Reading preferences
Self Efficacy
Self Motivation
Students
White people
White Students
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Summary:Previous research has investigated motivations for reading by examining positive or affirming motivations, including intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy. Related to them, we examined two negative, or undermining, motivations consisting of avoidance and perceived difficulty. We proposed that the motivations of intrinsic motivation and avoidance are relatively independent and thus can be combined to form meaningful profiles consisting of avid, ambivalent, apathetic, and averse readers. With Grade 5 students we found that these motivations were relatively independent for both Caucasian and African American students. The two motivations uniquely explained a significant proportion of variance in reading comprehension and other cognitive reading variables. Although intrinsic motivation correlated higher with achievement than avoidance for Caucasians, avoidance correlated higher with achievement than intrinsic motivation for African Americans. For both groups, the profile of avid readers showed higher reading achievement than the other profiles.
ISSN:1086-296X
1554-8430
DOI:10.1080/10862960903129196