The Direct and Indirect Effects of the Achievement Motivation on Nurturing Intellectual Giftedness
Achievement motivation is believed to promote
giftedness attracting people to invest in many programs to adopt
gifted students providing them with challenging activities.
Intellectual giftedness is founded on the fluid intelligence and
extends to more specific abilities through the growth and inputs from
the achievement motivation. Acknowledging the roles played by the
motivation in the development of giftedness leads to an effective
nurturing of gifted individuals. However, no study has investigated
the direct and indirect effects of the achievement motivation and
fluid intelligence on intellectual giftedness. Thus, this study
investigated the contribution of motivation factors to giftedness
development by conducting tests of fluid intelligence using Cattell
Culture Fair Test (CCFT) and analytical abilities using culture
reduced test items covering problem solving, pattern recognition,
audio-logic, audio-matrices, and artificial language, and self report
questionnaire for the motivational factors. A number of 180 highscoring
students were selected using CCFT from a leading university
in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling was employed using Amos
V.16 to determine the direct and indirect effects of achievement
motivation factors (self confidence, success, perseverance,
competition, autonomy, responsibility, ambition, and locus of
control) on the intellectual giftedness. The findings showed that the
hypothesized model fitted the data, supporting the model postulates
and showed significant and strong direct and indirect effects of the
motivation and fluid intelligence on the intellectual giftedness.
[1] Bloom, B. S. (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York,
Ballantine.
[2] Csikzentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented
teenagers: The roots of success and failure. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press.
[3] Winner, E. (1996). Gifted children: Myths and realities. New York:
Basic Books.
[4] Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity. New York:
Springer-Verlag New York Incorporated.
[5] Tannenbaum, A. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In N.
Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd Ed.,
pp. 45-59). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
[6] Renzulli, J. S. (2005). The three-ring conception of giftedness. In R. J.
Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 246-
279). New York: Cambridge University Press.
[7] Heller, K. A. (1993) Scientific ability. In G. R. Bock & K. Ackrill (Eds):
Ciba Foundation Symposium 178: the origins and development of high
ability, Wiley.
[8] Shavinina, L. V., & Ferrari, M. (2004). Beyond knowledge:
Extracognitive aspects of developing high ability. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
[9] Collins, C. J., Hanges, P. J. & Locke, E. A. (2004). The relationship of
achievement motivation to entrepreneurial behaviour: A meta-analysis,
Human Performance 17, pp. 95-117.
[10] Ridgell S. D., & Lounsbury, J. W. (2004). Predicting academic success:
General intelligence, 'Big Five' personality traits, and work drive.
College Student Journal, 38(4), 607-619.
[11] Busato, V., Prins, F., Elshout, J., & Hamaker, C., (2000). Ability,
learning, style, personality, achievement motivation, and academic
success of psychology students in higher education. Personality and
Individual Differences, 29, 1057-1068.
[12] Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and
achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34, 169- 89.
[13] Cury, F., Elliot, A. J., Da Fonséca, D, & Moller, A. C. (2006). The
social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 x 2
achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 90, 666-679.
[14] Chernyshenko, O. S., Roberts, B. W., Stark S. & Goldberg L. R. (2005).
The structure of conscientiousness: An empirical investigation based on
seven major personality questionnaires, Personnel Psychology 58, pp.
103-139.
[15] Edwards, A. L. (1953). Edwards personal preference inventory, The
Psychological Corporation, New York.
[16] Jackson, D. N. (1984). Personality research form manual (3rd ed.),
Research Psychologists Press, Port Huron, MI.
[17] McClelland, D. C., Atkinson J. W., Clark R. A. & Lowell E. L. (1953).
The Achievement Motive, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.
[18] Amabile, T. M., Hill, K. G., Hennessey, B. A. & Tighe, E. M. (1994).
The work preference inventory: Assessing intrinsic and extrinsic
motivational orientations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
66, 950-967.
[19] Heggestad, E., & Kanfer, R. (1999). Individual differences in trait
motivation. Development of the motivational trait questionnaire. Poster
presented at the Annual meetings of the Society of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
[20] Schuler H., Thornton G. C., Frintrup I. A., & Mueller-Hanson R. A.
(2004). Achievement motivation inventory: Technical and user-s
manual, Hogrefe & Huber, Goettingen.
[21] Robinson, N. M., & Noble, K. D. (1991). Social-emotional development
and adjustment of gifted children. In M. G. Wang, M. C. Reynolds, & H.
J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of special education: Research and practice
(Vol. 4, pp. 57-76). New York: Pergamon Press.
[22] Jeltova, I., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2005). Systemic approaches to
giftedness: Contributions of Russian psychology. In R. J. Sternberg & J.
E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 171-186). New
York: Cambridge University Press.
[23] Urdan, T. C., Kneisel, L., & Mason, V. (1999). Interpreting messages
about motivation in the classroom: Examining the effects of achievement
goal structures. In T. C. Urdan, M. L. Maehr, & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.),
The role of context: Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 4,
pp. 1-44). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
[24] Dai, D. Y., Moon, S. M., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Achievement
motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective.
Educational Psychologist, 33(2/3), 45-63.
[25] Zimmerman, B. J., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Selfmotivation
for academic attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and
personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29, pp.
663-676.
[26] Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human
intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[27] Gagne, F. (1985). Giftedness and talent: Reexamining a reexamination
of the definitions. Gifted Child Quarterly, 29, 103-112.
[28] O-Donnell, T. J., Hauser, M. D. & Fitch, T.W. (2005). Using
mathematical models of language experimentally. Trends in Cognitive
Sciences, Vol.9 No.6.
[29] McDonald, J. L. & Plauche, M. (1995). Single and correlated cues in an
artificial language learning paradigm. Language and Speech, 38, 223-
236.
[30] Liberman, N., Sagristano, M. D., & Trope, Y. (2002). The effect of
temporal distance on level of mental construal. Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, 38, 523-534.
[31] Lauter, J. L. (1983). Stimulus characteristics and relative ear advantages:
A new look at old data. Journal of the Acoustal Society of America, 74,
pp. 1-17.
[32] Heppner, P. P. (1988). The Problem Solving Inventory (PSI): Manual.
Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.
[33] Sternberg, R. J. & Davidson, J. E. (Eds.). (1983). Conceptions of
Giftedness (1sted.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
[34] George, J. (2000). Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional
intelligence. Human Relations, 53, 1027-1050.
[35] Davis, G. A. & Rimm, S. B. (2004). Education of the gifted and talented
(5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
[36] Brainerd, E. L. (2002). New Imaging Techniques and the Integration of
Morphology, Development and Physiology. Developmental Physiology
Roundtable, Glen Rose Texas.
[37] Cattel, R. B., & Cattell, A. K. S. (1960). Handbook for the individual or
group Culture Fair Intelligence Test - Scale II. Champaign, IL: Institute
for Personality and Ability Testing.
[38] Nunnaly, J. C. (1967). Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York,
NY.
[39] Gottfried, A. W., Gottfried, A. E., Bathurst, K., & Guerin, D. W. (1994).
Gifted IQ: Early developmental aspects. New York: Plenum.
[40] Pokay, P. & Blamenfeld, P. (1990). Predicting achievement motivation
of early and late in the semester: the role of motivation and use of
learning strategies, Journal of Education Psychology, 82, 1, 41-50.
[41] Janda, R. D. (2001). Beyond 'pathways' and 'unidirectionality': on the
discontinuity of language transmission and the counterability of
grammaticalization. Language Sciences, 23:265-340.
[42] Martin, C., Dawson, P,. & Guare, R. (2007). Smarts: are we hardwired
for success. New York: AMACOM.
[43] Lynn, S. K. (2002). The winding path: Understanding the career cycle of
teachers. The Clearing House, 75(4), 179-182.
[44] Hair, J. F., William, C. B., Barry, B., J., Rolph, E. A., & Ronald, L. T.
(2006). Multivariate Data Analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Pearson Education Inc.
[45] Chan, Y. H. (2003). Biostatistics 101: Data Presentation. Singapore Med
J, 44(6): 280-285.
[46] Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factoranalytic
studies. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
[47] Feldman, D. H. (1986). Nature's gambit: Child prodigies and the
development of human potential. New York: Basic.
[48] Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation
modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
[49] Zimmerman, B., & Ringle, J. (1981). Effects of model persistence and
statement of confidence on children's self-efficacy and problem-solving.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 485- 93.
[1] Bloom, B. S. (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York,
Ballantine.
[2] Csikzentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented
teenagers: The roots of success and failure. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press.
[3] Winner, E. (1996). Gifted children: Myths and realities. New York:
Basic Books.
[4] Amabile, T. M. (1983). The social psychology of creativity. New York:
Springer-Verlag New York Incorporated.
[5] Tannenbaum, A. J. (2003). Nature and nurture of giftedness. In N.
Colangelo & G. A. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of gifted education (3rd Ed.,
pp. 45-59). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
[6] Renzulli, J. S. (2005). The three-ring conception of giftedness. In R. J.
Sternberg & J. E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 246-
279). New York: Cambridge University Press.
[7] Heller, K. A. (1993) Scientific ability. In G. R. Bock & K. Ackrill (Eds):
Ciba Foundation Symposium 178: the origins and development of high
ability, Wiley.
[8] Shavinina, L. V., & Ferrari, M. (2004). Beyond knowledge:
Extracognitive aspects of developing high ability. Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
[9] Collins, C. J., Hanges, P. J. & Locke, E. A. (2004). The relationship of
achievement motivation to entrepreneurial behaviour: A meta-analysis,
Human Performance 17, pp. 95-117.
[10] Ridgell S. D., & Lounsbury, J. W. (2004). Predicting academic success:
General intelligence, 'Big Five' personality traits, and work drive.
College Student Journal, 38(4), 607-619.
[11] Busato, V., Prins, F., Elshout, J., & Hamaker, C., (2000). Ability,
learning, style, personality, achievement motivation, and academic
success of psychology students in higher education. Personality and
Individual Differences, 29, 1057-1068.
[12] Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and
achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34, 169- 89.
[13] Cury, F., Elliot, A. J., Da Fonséca, D, & Moller, A. C. (2006). The
social-cognitive model of achievement motivation and the 2 x 2
achievement goal framework. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 90, 666-679.
[14] Chernyshenko, O. S., Roberts, B. W., Stark S. & Goldberg L. R. (2005).
The structure of conscientiousness: An empirical investigation based on
seven major personality questionnaires, Personnel Psychology 58, pp.
103-139.
[15] Edwards, A. L. (1953). Edwards personal preference inventory, The
Psychological Corporation, New York.
[16] Jackson, D. N. (1984). Personality research form manual (3rd ed.),
Research Psychologists Press, Port Huron, MI.
[17] McClelland, D. C., Atkinson J. W., Clark R. A. & Lowell E. L. (1953).
The Achievement Motive, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York.
[18] Amabile, T. M., Hill, K. G., Hennessey, B. A. & Tighe, E. M. (1994).
The work preference inventory: Assessing intrinsic and extrinsic
motivational orientations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
66, 950-967.
[19] Heggestad, E., & Kanfer, R. (1999). Individual differences in trait
motivation. Development of the motivational trait questionnaire. Poster
presented at the Annual meetings of the Society of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
[20] Schuler H., Thornton G. C., Frintrup I. A., & Mueller-Hanson R. A.
(2004). Achievement motivation inventory: Technical and user-s
manual, Hogrefe & Huber, Goettingen.
[21] Robinson, N. M., & Noble, K. D. (1991). Social-emotional development
and adjustment of gifted children. In M. G. Wang, M. C. Reynolds, & H.
J. Walberg (Eds.), Handbook of special education: Research and practice
(Vol. 4, pp. 57-76). New York: Pergamon Press.
[22] Jeltova, I., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2005). Systemic approaches to
giftedness: Contributions of Russian psychology. In R. J. Sternberg & J.
E. Davidson (Eds.), Conceptions of giftedness (pp. 171-186). New
York: Cambridge University Press.
[23] Urdan, T. C., Kneisel, L., & Mason, V. (1999). Interpreting messages
about motivation in the classroom: Examining the effects of achievement
goal structures. In T. C. Urdan, M. L. Maehr, & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.),
The role of context: Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 4,
pp. 1-44). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
[24] Dai, D. Y., Moon, S. M., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1998). Achievement
motivation and gifted students: A social cognitive perspective.
Educational Psychologist, 33(2/3), 45-63.
[25] Zimmerman, B. J., Bandura, A., & Martinez-Pons, M. (1992). Selfmotivation
for academic attainment: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and
personal goal setting. American Educational Research Journal, 29, pp.
663-676.
[26] Sternberg, R. J. (1985). Beyond IQ: A triarchic theory of human
intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.
[27] Gagne, F. (1985). Giftedness and talent: Reexamining a reexamination
of the definitions. Gifted Child Quarterly, 29, 103-112.
[28] O-Donnell, T. J., Hauser, M. D. & Fitch, T.W. (2005). Using
mathematical models of language experimentally. Trends in Cognitive
Sciences, Vol.9 No.6.
[29] McDonald, J. L. & Plauche, M. (1995). Single and correlated cues in an
artificial language learning paradigm. Language and Speech, 38, 223-
236.
[30] Liberman, N., Sagristano, M. D., & Trope, Y. (2002). The effect of
temporal distance on level of mental construal. Journal of Experimental
Social Psychology, 38, 523-534.
[31] Lauter, J. L. (1983). Stimulus characteristics and relative ear advantages:
A new look at old data. Journal of the Acoustal Society of America, 74,
pp. 1-17.
[32] Heppner, P. P. (1988). The Problem Solving Inventory (PSI): Manual.
Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists.
[33] Sternberg, R. J. & Davidson, J. E. (Eds.). (1983). Conceptions of
Giftedness (1sted.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
[34] George, J. (2000). Emotions and leadership: The role of emotional
intelligence. Human Relations, 53, 1027-1050.
[35] Davis, G. A. & Rimm, S. B. (2004). Education of the gifted and talented
(5th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
[36] Brainerd, E. L. (2002). New Imaging Techniques and the Integration of
Morphology, Development and Physiology. Developmental Physiology
Roundtable, Glen Rose Texas.
[37] Cattel, R. B., & Cattell, A. K. S. (1960). Handbook for the individual or
group Culture Fair Intelligence Test - Scale II. Champaign, IL: Institute
for Personality and Ability Testing.
[38] Nunnaly, J. C. (1967). Psychometric Theory, McGraw-Hill, New York,
NY.
[39] Gottfried, A. W., Gottfried, A. E., Bathurst, K., & Guerin, D. W. (1994).
Gifted IQ: Early developmental aspects. New York: Plenum.
[40] Pokay, P. & Blamenfeld, P. (1990). Predicting achievement motivation
of early and late in the semester: the role of motivation and use of
learning strategies, Journal of Education Psychology, 82, 1, 41-50.
[41] Janda, R. D. (2001). Beyond 'pathways' and 'unidirectionality': on the
discontinuity of language transmission and the counterability of
grammaticalization. Language Sciences, 23:265-340.
[42] Martin, C., Dawson, P,. & Guare, R. (2007). Smarts: are we hardwired
for success. New York: AMACOM.
[43] Lynn, S. K. (2002). The winding path: Understanding the career cycle of
teachers. The Clearing House, 75(4), 179-182.
[44] Hair, J. F., William, C. B., Barry, B., J., Rolph, E. A., & Ronald, L. T.
(2006). Multivariate Data Analysis (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Pearson Education Inc.
[45] Chan, Y. H. (2003). Biostatistics 101: Data Presentation. Singapore Med
J, 44(6): 280-285.
[46] Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factoranalytic
studies. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
[47] Feldman, D. H. (1986). Nature's gambit: Child prodigies and the
development of human potential. New York: Basic.
[48] Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation
modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.
[49] Zimmerman, B., & Ringle, J. (1981). Effects of model persistence and
statement of confidence on children's self-efficacy and problem-solving.
Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 485- 93.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:57569", author = "Al-Shabatat and M. Ahmad and Abbas and M. and Ismail and H. Nizam", title = "The Direct and Indirect Effects of the Achievement Motivation on Nurturing Intellectual Giftedness", abstract = "Achievement motivation is believed to promote
giftedness attracting people to invest in many programs to adopt
gifted students providing them with challenging activities.
Intellectual giftedness is founded on the fluid intelligence and
extends to more specific abilities through the growth and inputs from
the achievement motivation. Acknowledging the roles played by the
motivation in the development of giftedness leads to an effective
nurturing of gifted individuals. However, no study has investigated
the direct and indirect effects of the achievement motivation and
fluid intelligence on intellectual giftedness. Thus, this study
investigated the contribution of motivation factors to giftedness
development by conducting tests of fluid intelligence using Cattell
Culture Fair Test (CCFT) and analytical abilities using culture
reduced test items covering problem solving, pattern recognition,
audio-logic, audio-matrices, and artificial language, and self report
questionnaire for the motivational factors. A number of 180 highscoring
students were selected using CCFT from a leading university
in Malaysia. Structural equation modeling was employed using Amos
V.16 to determine the direct and indirect effects of achievement
motivation factors (self confidence, success, perseverance,
competition, autonomy, responsibility, ambition, and locus of
control) on the intellectual giftedness. The findings showed that the
hypothesized model fitted the data, supporting the model postulates
and showed significant and strong direct and indirect effects of the
motivation and fluid intelligence on the intellectual giftedness.", keywords = "Achievement motivation, Intellectual Giftedness,Fluid Intelligence, Analytical Giftedness, CCFT, Structural EquationModeling.", volume = "4", number = "7", pages = "1741-9", }
