An Examination of Factors Related to Taiwanese Adolescents` Reports of Avoidance Strategies

Abstract

The author examined how Taiwanese junior high students` perceptions of autonomy support from teachers and parents as well as autonomous and controlled motivations were related to their implicit theories of intelligence. The author also attempted to determine the ability of these constructs to explain students` reports of avoidance strategies including self-handicapping, avoiding help seeking, and avoiding novelty. A total of 461 8th-grade students completed a self-report survey related to the variables of interest. Results lent support to the applicability of the self-determination theory perspective to non-Western cultures. Students who perceived higher levels of autonomy support from teachers displayed more adaptive achievement striving than did their counterparts perceiving lower levels of autonomy support in the learning environment. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]