Structure and stability of motivation among young children
The purpose of this two-year longitudinal study was to validate a measure of children's motivational orientations, namely the Child Behavior and Motivation Rating Scale (CBeMo). Kindergarten and preschool teachers rated a total of 130 children's motivation at the age of 4, 5 and 6 years. We tested a theoretically-based structure of motivational orientations among young children, evaluated the stability of the obtained factor structure across three measurement waves, and analyzed gender differences in motivational orientations. The results based on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed that a three-factor model, including task orientation, task-avoidance orientation and social dependence orientation factors fit the data best. The longitudinal CFA indicated sufficient measurement invariance of the scale across three waves. Task orientation and task avoidance factors showed moderate stability from age 4 to age 6. The results also revealed that boys were rated as displaying significantly less task-oriented behaviors than girls in adult-guided crafts and activity settings.