The functional meanings of behaviors

lnrrrnorionol Journalof hrrrculrural Rrlarions. Vol. 9. pp. 187-203, 1985 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.

THE FUNCTIONAL

MEANINGS

0147-1767185 $3.00 + .OO Copyright 0 1985 Pergamon Press Ltd.

OF BEHAVIORS

A Factor Analytic Study of Motivational Orientations in

Virgin Islands Students

MARJORIE W. STEINKAMP University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and

YEGIN HABTEYES College of the Virgin Islands ABSTRACT One hundred and sixty-five high school students in the Virgin Islands were asked to rate the extent to which they associate each of 62 behaviors with their concepts of “success, ” ‘yoy, ” and “satisfying expectations. ” They were also asked to rate thefrequency with which they performed each of the behaviors. Results indicated that Virgin IsIands students associate the word “success” not with academic behaviors, but with being modern, attractive, and nurturing. Moreover, individual students are less apt to perform those behaviors which Western teachers believe lead to academic success and more apt to perform those behaviors which the sample as a whole associates with being successful. The data indicate that although many Virgin Islands students enjoy traditional island activities, they do not feel successful when they engage in them. The results of the investigation are interpreted within the context of what is known concerning achievement behaviors of middle-class American youth, and implications are drawn for the teaching of young persons from diverse cultural backgrounds who attend classes conducted in the Western mode.

INTRODUCTION A significant educational problem exists in many of our country’s schools: Low achievement motivation among children whose socio-cultural background-whether it be Hispanic, Oriental, or Negro-clashes with affective and behavioral requirements for academic success in the modern classroom. Behaviors manifest in diverse cultural settings, however, do not always provide the middle-class Western observer with data from which to draw inferences concerning motivational orientation. This study employs an approach designed for application to students whose background has not Requests for reprints should be sent to Marjorie W. Steinkamp, Institute for Child Behavior and Development, 51 Gerty Drive. University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820. 187

188

Marjorie

W. Steinkamp

and Yegin Habteyes

produced motivational orientations typically associated with success in the modern classroom. The approach goes a step beyond current empirical research in attempting to show that “functional meanings” which students attach to behaviors provide a valid perspective within which motivational orientation can be examined. This study focuses on patterns of meanings expressed by one cultural group-high school students in the Virgin Islands-many of whom wish to succeed in the modern classroom but who appear to lack the motivation to achieve in the traditional sense. BACKGROUND One major weakness of the personality-trait conceptualization espoused by McClelland and his followers is the assumption that motivation, if present, will be evoked by competitive environments. This assumption guarantees that certain achievement behaviors will be overlooked in cultures where competitiveness has not developed. In the Virgin Islands, for example, competitive behavior is seldom displayed (Y. Habteyes, personal communication, July 13, 1982) possibly because such behavior is maladaptive for inhabitants of small islands which in the past have offered no escape from unpleasant personal interactions (D. Ballendorf, personal communication, January 19, 1979). Similarly, Mexican-Americans do not display achievement behaviors in competitive situations because the pursuit of personal success is inconsistent with their system of values (Kagan, Zahn, & Gealey, 1977; Knight, 1977; Knight & Kagan, 1977). Living in a culture wherein group solidarity is fostered and maintained, the Navaho Indian also rejects the goal of individual excellence (Allison, 1979; Kluckhohn & Leighton, 1966; Leighton & Kluckhohn, 1947). Achievement behaviors have been overlooked in at least one study carried out in Japan under the assumption that motivation, if present, will be expressed competitively (McClelland, 1961). Because it fails to acknowledge the role played by situational variables (Klinger & McNelley, 1969; Maehr, 1974a), the trait hypothesis overlooks behaviors of groups which typically establish different kinds of tasks as goals, or tend to pursue goals in distinctive ways. Blacks, for instance, may display few achievement behaviors when they are observed and evaluated against the set of variables typically associated with classroom motivation (Littig, 1968; Mangione, 1965, 1968; Rosen, 1959), and yet they are clearly motivated towards goals of their own choosing, such as athletics, music, and human relations, and in situations consonant with their personal styles of goal pursuit. Similarly, women appear to lack motivation when their behaviors are measured within competitive, typically masculine contexts which are inconsistent with the female sex role (Horner, 1972). When situation and context are appropriately controlled, attempts to show that blacks and women are minimally motivated have proved singularly unsuccessful (Montemayor, 1974; Stein, Pohly, & Mueller, 1971).

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

189

Clearly, such instances of failure to detect achievement behaviors which do not emerge in competitive situations, or which reflect differential goals and mechanisms of expression, pinpoint the folly of attempting to understand the motivational orientations of ethnic and cultural groups by placing them in a middle-class performance setting and then observing their behavior. Too frequently, students from these groups are labeled “motivationally inferior”; teacher hopelessness then sets in, and the “victim” of certain situations is blamed for the consequences of those situations (Ryan, 1971; Tulkin, 1972).

Recent Approaches

to the Study of Motivation

Within the past decade, the boundaries of motivation research have been extended to account for descriptors which have received little emphasis when the trait hypothesis and projective measurement were in vogue. Research interest has begun to focus on a broad spectrum of characteristics which imply motivation in women (Alper, 1974; Horner, 1972), diverse cultural groups (Cole, 1979; DeVos, 1973; Kagan, Zahn, & Gealey, 1977; Knight, 1977; Maehr & Nicholls, 1980), ethnic subgroups (Littig, 1968; Mingione, 1965; Rosen, 1959) and the elderly (Maehr & Kleiber, 1980, 1981). Emerging definitions of motivation assume a universal will to achieve; the question is merely in which conditions and contexts the will is actualized. This interpretation suggests that behavior be studied in situ, a procedure providing a greater openness in viewing the motivational orientation of different cultural groups and also leading to an important substantive shift in the interpretation and promotion of behavior. It also suggests what will be called, for purposes of this discussion, a “functional meanings” approach to the study of motivation. The approach is based on the notion that contextual factors interact in unknown, culturally-specific ways to set the stage for the person’s attaching meanings to the behaviors in his/ her repertoire. These meanings, in turn, play a role in determining functions the behaviors will perform in various cultural settings. Functional meanings may be viewed as elements of what Triandis (1972) calls “subjective culture,” that is, the cultural group’s characteristic way of perceiving its social environment.

METHOD Specific Functional Meanings Examined

in the Study

Many functional meanings may be attached to a behavior, and three of them are examined in this study. Behaviors are frequently performed in order that the individual might (a) achieve success, (b) experience joy, or (c) satisfy expectations of family and friends. These particular meanings were chosen from a myriad of possibilities because of their universality, their definitional clarity, and the roles they have played in earlier work showing

190

Marjorie W. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

that behaviors have different functions and meanings in various cultural settings (Osgood, Miron, & May, 1975; Salili & Maehr, 1975; Triandis, Kilty, Shanmugam, Tanaka, & Vassiliou, 1972). Success. Different discriptors are associated with the word success in diverse cultural settings. In the present study, the goal is to ascertain which behaviors typically performed in the Virgin Islands are associated with the word success. Within broad limits, it is anticipated that Virgin Islands’ students will tend, like members of other cultures, to associate a behavior with success if it can be attributed to personal qualities which are valued by that culture, that is, behaviors which are self-enhancing or which are apt to maximize the probability of self-enhancement (Kukla, 1972). Furthermore, individual achievement behaviors have a certain prestige ranking, as Barkow (1975) suggests, and it is anticipated that Virgin Islanders will associate the word success with behaviors that are most prestigious in that country. ,loy. This functional meaning can be distinguished from success by the relative absence of ability attributions. Students of all ages are sometimes motivated to perform because they are “oriented” toward the task; they perform not for reward or for specific outcome but for joy. This quality is evident in the mastery behavior referred to in the literature (White, 1959), or the studies which describe intrinsic task interest (Day & Berlyne, 1971). Joy is important in the development of intellectual competence (Flavell, 1977) and may, like success, be assumed to be a cultural universal.

Satisfying expectations of family and friends. Whereas success is expected to relate to behaviors which bring positive reflections on themselves, and joy is expected to relate to behaviors which are performed essentially for the enjoyment of performing them, the variable referred to as satisfying expectations will be associated with behaviors performed because significant others, particularly authoritative kin in traditional Virgin Islands’ cultures, expect them to be performed. Clearly, satisfying expectations is a function of behavior in all cultures. Development and Evaluation of an Instrument for Measuring Functional Meaning and Rates of Performance A rating scale for use with Virgin Islands’ students was developed especially for this project. The instrument consists of verbal descriptions of 62 typical behaviors, each placed adjacent to a continuum along which the student was asked to rate the degree to which he/she associated the behavior and “success.” The process was repeated with the same items for “joy,” “satisfying expectations,” and “actual performance.” In the latter case, the subjects were asked to rate each behavioral item in terms of the frequency

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

191

with which they actually performed it. Disparities between functional meanings of behaviors and students’reports of their own actual performance of behaviors were used to pinpoint areas in which values and goals have been internalized while the behavioral requisites for attaining them remain outside their behavioral repertoires. Behaviors included on the rating scale were selected from an extensive sampling of behaviors characteristically prompting motivational inferences which were observed by the first author in an island culture. The set of items was further culled and refined by the second author, a former program development specialist at the College of the Virgin Islands. Thus, the behaviors may be considered typical of the Virgin Islands’ culture. Fifteen item duplicates were incorporated into the scale in order that reliabilities could be calculated. Correlations among the pairs of items ranged from 44 to .8 1, with a mean of .58.

Description of the Sample The subjects chosen for this study were selected from among approximately 1,000 students attending the summer session of 1982 in the school districts of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The three islands represent three levels of modernization. One classroom of students at each grade level-grade 7 through grade 12-was randomly selected for inclusion in the study. Of the 165 subjects, 61 were male and 99 were female.

Administration

of Instruments

All instruments were administered by the second author who is familiar with the culture and with the nuances of standard English and island dialects. With directions modified to measure success, satisfying expectations, joy, and performance, the scales were administered on different days, with the order randomized to control for practice effects.

Statistical Analyses In a series of preliminary analyses, within-culture differences were explored in detail. Separate correlational analyses were undertaken for each relevant subgroup as well as for the total sample. Analyses of variance were used to test for gender, island, and age group differences. With the exceptions noted for rates of performance, group differences were nonsignificant with respect to the particular behaviors and associations tapped in this study, suggesting that the total sample be used in further analyses. Factor analyses were employed to isolate clusters of items which best described the three functional meanings. Because of within-culture group differences, factor analysis was not attempted for the Rate of Performance

192

Marjorie

W. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

Scale, but separate factor analyses were conducted for success, joy, and satisfying expectations. After rotation with Kaiser Normalization, the varimax-rotated factor matrix was chosen as the best solution, and the Scree Test (Child, 1973) was used to determine factors of primary importance. Latent roots were plotted against factor number and the shape of the resulting curve was employed to determine an optimal cut-off point. In each case, the curve began to develop into a linear relationship after Factor 1. Thus, items clustering in Factor 1 of each of the three scales are discussed in detail.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Functional

Meanings

One goal of the study was to determine the functional meanings-success, satisfying expectations, and joy-which students in the Virgin Islands associate with behaviors typically performed there. Data for the three functional meanings were factor analyzed separately.

Success. Table 1 shows clusters of behaviors-those items loading > .40 on the first factor-which high school students in the Virgin Islands associate with the word “success.” The collection of behaviors suggests the label “being modern, attractive, and nurturing.” It should be noted that none of the items which describe academic behaviors loaded significantly. Clearly, study skills are not viewed as a pathway to success among Virgin Islands’ high school students. Moreover, Virgin Islands’ students behavioral definitions of success may lie at the root of the lackadaisical impression they sometimes create in classrooms conducted in the Western mode. Behaviors oriented toward creating a modern, attractive, and nurturing impression bear little resemblance to behaviors which many middle-class American youth associate with success; success-oriented students in modernized countries typically associate the word “success” with competitive school-related behaviors (Maehr, 1974b). Given such disparate views of success, it is not surprising that Virgin Islands’ students’ motivation for success often goes unrecognized in classrooms conducted in the Western tradition.

Sati.sj)ing expectations of family and friends. With one exception, behaviors which Virgin Islands’ students associate with “satisfying expectations” are related to school and education. Indeed, most behaviors from the 62-item rating scale which relate to school are clustered in this factor. Items with significant loadings are shown in Table 1; they suggest the label “academic behaviors.”

Functional Meanings oj Behaviors

193

TABLE 1 Items Loadlng Slgniflcently on Factor Loading

I

P9r.f X males

Pcrf X females

.77 .75 .73 .72 .72

5.75 6.33 5.22 6.46 5.75

6.16 6.76 5.23 6.64 6.16

.39 .ll .53 .OB .39

.17 .45 .22 .39 .23

.66 64 .32 .56 .55 .52 .46 .46 .44 .41

5.90 5.69 5.46 5.12 5.34 5.17 5.56 5.00 4.16 5.54

5.40 6.26 6.30 5.73 5.51 5.06 6.31 5.41 5.40 6.19

.17 .27 40 .12 .02 30 .27 33 .50 .30

.43 .30 .36 .16 .20 .27 40 34 .34 .29

0”

Factor

I

Succ/Perf Correlation Males

Succ/Perf Correlation Females

SUCCESS-being modern, attractive, and nurturing Using a calendar Wearing clean clothing Being beautiful or handsome Keeping body clean Using a clock Marrying a beautiful girl or handsome man Fixing up family house Keeping home and island tidy Making many friends Having a large healthy family Standing straight Washing clothes well Doing favors for teachers Quieting fussy babies Making people happy

x=5.50 a=.54

Percent of variance (Factor I, 62 items) = 35% Loading

x=.31 0= .09

Sat Exp/Perf Sat Exp/Perf Correlation Correlation Males Females

Pgrf X

.aa

5.25

5.80

.59

.56

.a5 .a4 .a3

4.81 5.30 5.29

5.54 5.60 5.84

.56 .66 .33

.40 .16 .27

.7a .70 .66 64 .63 .62 .56 .49

5.12 3.98 5.81 2.79 5.87 4.35 5.27 5.69

5.44 4.61 6.04 4.97 5.89 4.77 5.33 6.28

.3a 64 .43 .47 .3a .66 .56 .40

.31 .33 .50 .49 .45 .40 .52 .33

.4a .46 .43

5.27 5.30 4.75

5.61 5.38 5.63

.24 .30 .43

.37 .26 .49

X=4.99 0 = .77

x=5.56 0 = .44

x=.47 0=.13

x=.39 a=.11

Factor I

Percent of variance (Factor I, 62 items) = 26%

X=.26 a=.15

Perf X males

Oil

SATISFYING EXPECTATIONSAcademic behaviors Doing homework carefully Talking with parents about school work Following directions exactly Asking what new words mean Talking with teachers about school work Using big words when talking Knowing about the meaning of life Using a typewriter Finishing tasks which are started Studying while friends play Reading newspapers Fixing up family house Talking with friends about school work Learning school work quickly Reading stories in free time

x=5.92 0 = .54

(Continued

on page

194)

194 TABLE

Marjorie W. Sleinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

1 (continued)

JOY-Church and school-related socializing Reading the Bible Keeping blackboards clean for teacher Going to church Talking with parents about school work Talking with friends about school work Doing math problems on blackboard Doing favors for teachers Talking with teachers about school work Asking what new words mean Percent of variance (Factor I, 62 items) = 37%

Loading on Factor I

Pgrf X males

P@ X females

JoylPerf Correlation Males

Joy/Perf Correlation Females

.69

4.25

5.38

.64

.61

.67 .64

3.08 4.58

3.23 5.75

.36 .71

.57 .72

.53

4.81

5.54

.18

.49

.53

5.27

5.81

.23

.44

.48 .43

4.83 5.00

5.07 5.41

.27 .42

.31 .3?

.41 .41

5.12 5.29

5.44 5.84

.27 .43

.49 .22

x=4.69 (r= .85

x=5.25 0 = .75

x=.39 0=.39

x=.47 0= .15

Jo,v. The cluster of items which the students associate with the word “joy” is also shown in Table 1. The behaviors suggest the label “church- and school-related socializing.” Again, none of the items which describe academic behaviors loaded significantly, indicating that although students may enjoy the camaraderie of school, academic behaviors are not represented in the items they most strongly associate with the word “joy.” This pattern may reflect the recency with which opportunities for school achievement have become available to Virgin Islands’ children and youth. The picture emerges of a cultural group which associates being modern, attractive, and nurturing, with success. Academic behaviors tend to be viewed not as routes to success, but as a means of satisfying expectations of family and friends. Virgin Islands’ students enjoy school-related socializing but academic behaviors are not among the cluster of behaviors they strongly associate with the word “joy.”

Rates of Performance The second goal of the study was to examine differential rates of performance for clusters of behaviors associated with success, with joy, and with satisfying expectations. Several performance patterns are shown in Table 1. Students in the Virgin Islands-both male and female-are most apt to perform behaviors which spell success for them-being modern, attractive, and nurturing. They are also willing-but less so-to perform academic behaviors which they perceive as satisfying the expectations of others. They are relatively less apt to engage in church- and school-related

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

195

socializing which they associate with the word “joy.” [The differences between mean Rates of Performance on success behaviors and mean Rates of Performance on joy behaviors are significant for males (t = 2.13; df = 28; p < .05) and for females (t = 2.02; df = 28; p < .05).] On 7 of the 62 items, the students reported weak associations (x < .40) between the described behavior and all three of the functional meanings. Six of those seven items described traditional island activities: mending broken nets, sailing to other islands alone, climbing tall trees, making alcoholic beverages, catching fish, and swimming fast. The pattern of responses on another small cluster of items suggests that Virgin Islands students may wish to replace traditional activities with practical, hands-on activities which have a modern “flavor.” Three of the 62 items bore the distinction of showing a relatively large disparity between strength of functional meaning and performance rate. “Holding a part-time job” was strongly associated with success (x = 5.2) with joy (x = 5.0) and with satisfying expectations (x = 5.3) while receiving relatively low scores on performance rate (x = 4.3). A similar pattern was found for the item, “Fixing car, jeep, or motor boat”: success (X = 4.0), joy (X = 3.8), satisfying expectations (x = 3.4) and performance (x = 2.9). “Typing messages and school work” was also strongly associated with success (x = 4.3) with joy (x = 4.2) and with satisfying expectations (x = 4.4) while receiving relatively low scores on performance rate (x= 3.6). Lack of opportunities to perform behaviors such as these may be a partial explanation for the pattern of high interest/low performance.

Gender differences in rates of performance. As a group, females indicated significantly higher rates of performance on the 62 behaviors than males (F = 5.03; df = I, 159; p < .03). Gender differences are particularly prominent in mean rates of performance on the cluster of academic behaviors shown in Table 1 (t = 2.15; df = 28;~ < .025) and reflect a pattern frequently reported for achievement level. The literature reports that females’ achievement levels surpass those of males in elementary schools (Achenbach, 1970; McCandles, Roberts, & Starnes, 1972) among blacks (Kerckhoff, 1972) and among Micronesians (Ballendorf, 1979). Differences in experiential background are often offered as explanations for females’ greater achievement and may apply here to females’ tendency to perform academic behaviors more frequently. Males in the elementary school and in less well developed cultures typically have fewer experiences with child care, homemaking, and marketing than do females. In all cultures, females tend to hold primary responsibility for these activities (Quinn, 1977). Thus, males are less apt to have sampled the broad range of experiences which lays the cognitive groundwork for later interest and achievement in school. To test the hypothesis that females’ higher performance rates are a reflection of higher cognitive ability levels, results of the Matching Familiar

196

Marjorie IV. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

Figures Test (Kagan, 1965) were examined for the sexes separately. The data showed that females did not perform better on that test; in fact, males’ mean scores on the 14 items were slightly, but not significantly (F = 1.78; G??= 1,159; p = .18), higher than females’( x males = 1.57; x females = 1.52). This pattern mirrors that reported for cognitive ability in United States samples (Hyde, 1981) and foreign samples (Steinkamp & Maehr, 1983; Steinkamp & Maehr, 1984; Tohidi, Steinkamp, & Maehr, 1985) and suggests that differences in cognitive ability cannot be used to explain females’ significantly higher rates of performance found throughout this study. An alternate explanation for females’ higher rates of performance relates to their willingness to attach positive functional meanings to a broad range of behaviors. Females not only perform behaviors at a higher rate (on 81% of 62 items, females indicated higher rates of performance than males), they also view behaviors as more strongly related to all three functional meanings: on 80% of 62 items, females made higher success ratings; on 74% of the items, females made higher satisfying expectations ratings; and on 82% of the items, females made higher joy ratings. The few items indicating higher performance rates for males tended to be those which describe stereotypically male behaviors. Girls’ higher rates of performance on that subset of items describing academic behaviors may be rooted in parental attitudes toward school. In the Virgin Islands-and in black, Hispanic, and low socioeconomic groups in the United States-school-related activities are typically defined as feminine, and the father expects the mother to handle school matters. Under these circumstances, the father provides for his son a role model which is indifferent toward school-related activities. The girl, on the other hand, learns how to be effective not only in the school setting, but also in other performance milieu. Relationships Between Rates qf Performance

Functional

Meaning

and

When functional meaning and rates of performance are analyzed separately, several questions are left unanswered. For example, does the strength of functional meaning which an individual attaches to a particular behavior predict his/ her rate of performance on that behavior? Is that influence always positive for the individual, or do some functional meanings relate negatively to performance rates? Are some functional meanings more strongly related to performance than other functional meanings are? In order to answer these questions, individuals’ rates of performance were correlated with ratings they made on each of the three functional meanings. This was done for each of the 62 items. In answer to the first question, the correlations show that the strength of the functional meaning which an individual associates with a behavior does

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

197

relate to his/ her rate of performance. Of the 372 correlations (62 for each functional meaning for each sex), all but 10 were significant at the .05 level. Furthermore, all but two were positive, indicating that those students who attached a strong meaning did tend to perform the behavior more frequently. It was anticipated that students in the high school age group-typically in teenage revolt against authority-might tend nor to perform behaviors which they viewed as satisfying expectations of family and friends. This phenomenon, however, did not occur for males or for females on any of the 62 behaviors in the study. The picture emerges of high school students who, if they strongly associate functional meaning with a behavior, are apt to perform it frequently. For individual students, do some functional meanings relate more strongly to rates of performance than other functional meanings? The correlations in Table 2 show the rate of performance/ functional meanings relationships for selected items. For the first item, “Following directions exactly,” the functional meaning is, in general, positively related to rate of performance. That is, students who view following directions as a concomitant of success, satisfying expectations, and joy, follow directions oftener than do students who hold those views less strongly. For females, no one of the functional meanings influences their rate of performance more than the others. For males, however, the pattern is somewhat different in that those who view following directions as a means of satisfying expectations tend to do so at a comparatively more frequent rate. The next item shows that males who enjoy “talking to old kinfolk” do indeed perform that behavior frequently (.23) but those who view it as a way of satisfying expectations are more apt to do so (.60). Similarly, for the item, “wearing clean clothes,” rate of performance barely correlates with males’view of success (. 11) and with their perception of joy (.24) while correlating strongly with satisfying expectations (55). As indicated earlier, “wearing clean clothes” belongs to that cluster of behaviors which the group associates with success, but these correlations show that success and enjoyment have little to do with how often individual males actually wear clean clothes. The data suggest that, like teenaged boys in many countries, they wear clean clothes to the extent that they feel they are expected to. These patterns of relationship between functional meaning and rate of performance are representative of a trend occurring on many of the behaviors listed in Table 2. The correlations suggest that males tend to perform behaviors which they personally associate with satisfying expectations while females tend to perform behaviors which they associate with joy. That relationship is explicit and significant in the data in Table 1, where it can be seen that males’ performance is significantly more apt to correlate with satisfying expectations (x, = .47) than with joy and success (t = 2.88; df = 37; p < .05). Females’ performance, in contrast, is significantly more apt to correlate with joy (x, = .47) than with satisfying expectations and success (t = 2.61; df = 37; p < .05).

198

Marjorie

W. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

TABLE 2 Correlatlonr

Between Functional Meaning and Rates of Performance on Selected Behaviors

Rates of Performance with Success Following directions exactly Talking with old kinfolk Wearing clean clothing Talking with parents about school work Making many friends Holding a part-time job Having a large, healthy family Working well alone Doing homework carefully Studying while friends play Keeping body clean Being best at caring for children Performing dance Talking with visitors and tourists Telling stories to children Finishing tasks which are started Learning school work quickly ‘Correlations parentheses.

Rates of Performance with Joy

Rates of Performance with Satisfy Expectations

.29

(.35)8

(.38) (55) (24)

(.45)

(.36) (.45)

.20 .23 .24

.38

.30 .ll

.60 .55

(.50) (.34)

.21 .12 .42 .02 .15 .25 .42 .08

(.29) (.18) (42) (.20) (.41) (.29) (.54) (.39)

.16 .43 .lO .30 .37 .35 .52 -.14

(.49) (.50) (.39) (.40) (.24) (.37) (.47) (.40)

56 .49 .12

(.40) (.40) (.34)

.23 .33 .59 .66 .40

(.36) (.14) (.56) (.40) (.51)

.39 .31

(.33) (.30)

.17 .46

(.50)

.48 .62

(.39) (.31)

.24 .42

(.25) (57)

.29 .47

(.W

.56

(.38)

(.67)

.71

(.55)

.29

(.35) (.21)

.20 .29

(.38) (24)

.38 .30

(.45) (.28)

.33

l.50)

for males are to the left of each column and correlations

for females are in

This gender difference is of special interest, partly because it contrasts with the situation reported for students-particularly elementary students-in the United States, and partly because it may help explain the females’ greater performance rates demonstrated throughout this study. The literature frequently reports that in the United States it is the girl more than the boy who tries to satisfy expectations, avoid failure (Dweck & Bush, 1976), and comply (Steinkamp, 1984) while the boy engages in more individualistic, unstructured activities (Carpenter & Houston-Stein, 1980) which are tailored to his own enjoyment. The Virgin Islands females’tendency to perform behaviors they enjoy (and enjoy behaviors they perform) may serve as a tentative explanation for their higher rates of performance on 81% of the behaviors in this study. SUMMARY

OF FINDINGS

This study was conducted to learn more about the functional meanings which high school students in the Virgin Islands associate with behaviors

199

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

they typically perform, and to learn how those meanings relate to the frequency with which the behaviors are performed. It was found that the students associate functional meanings-success, joy, and satisfying expectations of family and friends-with distinct categories of behavior. The picture emerges of a cultural group which associates being modern, attractive, and nurturing with the word “success.” Academic behaviors tend to be viewed not as routes to success but as a means of satisfying expectations of family and friends. Virgin Islands students enjoy school-related socializing but academic behaviors are not among the behaviors they strongly associate with the word “joy.” It was found that the strength of the functional meaning which an individual student attaches to a behavior is related positively to his/ her rate of performance on that behavior and that some functional meanings are more strongly related to rate of performance than other functional meanings. With the exception of stereotypically male behaviors, females attach stronger meanings than males to most of the behaviors in the study, and they perform the behaviors more frequently than males. Males are most apt to perform behaviors which they associate with satisfying expectations while females are most apt to perform behaviors which they enjoy. These patterns contrast with those reported for male and female students in the United States. Taken collectively, the findings provide an explanatory context for teachers’ frequent failure to detect motivation in students emerging from diverse cultural settings. The data indicate that functional meanings have pronounced and predictable effects on the types and frequencies of behaviors performed. They suggest that modern pedagogical approaches which assume universal functional meanings-functional meanings reflective of the Western tradition-may be inappropriate for students whose ideas concerning success, joy, and satisfying expectations vary from those which typify students oriented toward the Western definition of success. IMPLICATIONS

FOR CLASSROOM

TEACHING

The tendency of Virgin Islands students to perform behaviors which they associate with success significantly more frequently than those they associate with joy demonstrates the inappropriateness of the label “unmotivated,“and, even more important, suggests an implication for teachers of non-Western students in the modern classroom. Teachers should recognize these students’ interest in success and make special attempts to broaden the students’concepts of success to include that constellation of behaviors associated with Western notions of success-such as doing homework carefully, following directions, and talking with teachers about school work. It is well known that certain well-defined patterns of behavior are essential if a student is to achieve in the Western tradition, that students can be taught to perform these patterns (Cobb, Ray, & Patterson, 1970; Patterson, Ray, & Shaw, 1968), and that training can lead to an improvement in achievement scores (Cobb, 1973).

200

Marjorie W. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

Concepts of success can be broadened with the provision of learning experiences within a psycho-social context that is congruent with the cultural values and views of success espoused in the home. In the case of Virgin Islands students, this would mean a nurturing, cooperative context in which pride in the appearance and modernity of self, buildings, and facilities is valued and actively encouraged. Observable evidence that good study habits can lead to opportunities for challenging vocational activities can be provided within a variety of cultural paradigms by special speakers and seminars and by role models-particularly male ones-who are responsibly, successfully, and enjoyably engaged in adult activities for which good study habits are a prime prerequisite. Biographical studies of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds who have enriched society can affirm a familiar psycho-social context, help the student internalize the relationship between current behavior in the classroom and later career success, and broaden the student’s concepts of success. It is important to note that casting learning experiences within the psychosocial context espoused in the home is not the same as casting learning experiences within the context of culturally traditional activities, however. The notion that activities reflective of the students’culture of origin provide a primary context for learning in Western classrooms was not supported by the data in this study. Virgin Islands students reported weak associations between activities typically viewed as traditional and the functional meanings of success, joy, and satisfying expeetations, and reported strong associations between activities which are typically viewed as modern and those functional meanings. This pattern highlights a disenchantment with those aspects of their culture which mark them as less modernized and an enchantment with activities with a modern flavor. In short, the data suggest that contexts which affirm psycho-social aspects of the students’cultural background, while at the same time incorporating opportunities for hands-on, practical activities with a modern image, potentially provide an identity often coveted by students from diverse cultures and facilitate academic behaviors which underlie competence and success in classrooms conducted in the Western mode. REFERENCES ACHENBACH, identifying 283-291.

T. M. (1970). Standardization associative

responding

ALLISON, M. (1979, March).

in children.

of a research Developmental

instrument for Psychology, 2,

Toward a reconceptualization ~Jcompetition and cooperation: A Navaho perspective. Paper presented at the Anthropological Association for the Study of Play Conference, New Hampshire. ALPER, T. C. (1974). Achievement motivation in college women: A now-you-see-itnow-you-don’t phenomenon. American Psychologist, 29, 194-233. BALLENDORF, D. (1979). The community college of Micronesia. Pacific Studies, 20, 186-192.

Functional Meanings of Behaviors BARKOW,

201

J. H. (1975). Prestige and culture: A biosocial interpretation. Current Anthropology, 16, 559-56 1. CARPENTER, C. J., & HOUSTON-STEIN, A. (1980). Activity structure and sex-typed behavior in preschool children. Child Development, 51, 862-872. CHILD, D. (1973). 7%e essentials offacror analysis. London: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston. COBB, J. A. (1973). Relationship of discrete classroom behaviors to fourth-grade academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 63, 74-80. COBB, J. A., RAY, R. S., & PATTERSON, G. R. (1970, September). Direct intervention in the schools. Paper presented at the meetings of the American Psychological Association, Miami, FL. COLE, R. E. (1979). Work, mobility, and participation: A comparative study of American and Japanese industry. Berkeley: University of California Press. DAY, H. I., & BERLYNE, D. E. (1971). Intrinsic motivation. In G. S. Lesser (Ed.), Psychology and educational practice. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. DeVOS, G. A. (1973). Socializarion for achievement. Berkeley: University of California Press. DWECK, C. S., & BUSH, E. S. (1976). Sex differences in learned helplessness: I. Differential debilitation with peer and adult evaluators. Developmental Psychology, 12, 147-156. FLAVELL, J. H. (1977). Cognitive developmenr. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. HORNER, M. (1972). Toward an understanding of achievement-related conflicts in women. Journal of Social Issues, 28, 157-176. HYDE, J. (1981). How large are cognitive gender differences? American Psychologist, 36(S), 892-901. KAGAN, J. (1965). Reflection-impulsivity and reading ability in primary grade children. Child Development, 36, 609-628. KAGAN, S., ZAHN, G. L., & GEALEY, J. (1977). Competition and school achievement among Anglo-American and Mexican-American Children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 69, 432-442. KERCKHOFF, A. C. (1972). Socialization and social class. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. KLINGER, E., & McNELLEY, F. W. (1969). Fantasy need achievement and performance: A role analysis. Psychological Review, 76, 574-591. KLUCKHOHN, C., & LEIGHTON, C. (1966). 131eNavaho. Philadelphia: Octagon Press. KNIGHT, G. P. (1977). Acculturation of prosocial and competitive behaviors among second- and third-generation Mexican-American Children. Journal of Crosscultural Psychology, 8, 273-284. KNIGHT, G. P., & KAGAN, S. (1977). Development of prosocial and competitive behaviors in Anglo-American and Mexican-American children. Child Developmen& 48, 1385-1394. KUKLA, A. (1972). Foundations of an attributional theory of performance. Psychological Review, 79,454-470. LEIGHTON, D., & KLUCKHOHN, C. (1947). Children of thepeopie. Philadelphia: Octagon Press. LITTIG, L. W. (1968). Negro personality correlates of aspiration to traditionally open and closed occupations. Journal of Negro Education, 37, 31-36.

202

Marjorie W. Steinkamp and Yegin Habteyes

MAEHR, M. L. (1974a). Culture and achievement motivation. American Psychologist, 29, 887-896. MAEHR, M. L. (1974b). Sociocultural origins of achievement. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. MAEHR, M. L., & KLEIBER, D. A. (1980). The graying of America: Implications for achievement motivation theory and research. In L. J. Fyans, Jr. (Ed.), Recent trends in achievement motivation theory and research. New York: Plenum Press. MAEHR, M. L.. & KLEIBER, D. A. (198 I). The graying of achievement motivation. American Psychologist, 36, 787-793. MAEHR, M. L., & NICHOLLS, J. G. (1980). Culture and achievement motivation: A second look. In N. Warren (Ed.), Studies in cross-culturalpsychology, Vol. 3. New York: Academic Press. McCANDLES, B., ROBERTS, A., & STARNES, T. (1972). Teachers’ marks, achievement test scores, and aptitude relations with respect to social class, race, and sex. Journal of Educational Psychology, 63, 153-159. MCCLELLAND, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. New York: The Free Press. MINGIONE, A. D. (1965). Need for achievement in Negro and white children. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 29, 109-I I 1. MINGIONE, A. D. (1968). Need for achievement in Negro, white, and Puerto Rican children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 32, 94-95. MONTEMAYOR, R. (1974). Children’s performance in a game and their attraction to it as a function of sex-typed labels. Child Development, 45, 152-156. OSGOOD, C.E., MIRON, M., & MAY, W. (1975). Cross-cultural universals of affective meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. PATTERSON, G. R.. RAY, R. S., & SHAW, D. A. (1968). Direct intervention in families of deviant children. Oregon Research Institute Research Bulletin, 8, No. 9. QUINN, N. (1977). Anthropological studies on women’s status. Annual Review of Anthropology, 6, I8 l-225. ROSEN, B. C. (1959). Race, ethnicity, and the achievement syndrome. American Sociological Review, 24, 47-60. RYAN, W. (1971). Blaming the victim. New York: Random House. SALILI. F., & MAEHR, M. L. (1975). A cross-cultural analysis of achievementrelated concepts. Unpublished research report, University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign, IL. STEIN, A. H., POHLY, S. R., SCMUELLER, E. (197 I). The influence of masculine, feminine, and neutral tasks on children’s achievement behavior, expectancies of success, and attainment values. Child Development, 42, 195-207. STEINKAMP, M. W. (1984). Motivational style as a mediator of adult achievement in science. In M. W. Steinkamp & M. L. Maehr (Eds.), Women inscience (Recent advances in motivation and achievement, Vol. 2). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. STEINKAMP, M. W., & MAEHR, M. L. (1984). Gender differences in motivational orientations toward achievement in school science: A quantitative synthesis. American Educational Research Journal, (2 I) I, 39-59. STEINKAMP, M. W., & MAEHR, M. L. (1983). Affect, ability, and science achievement: A quantitative synthesis of correlational research. Review of Educational Research, 53(3), 369-396. TOHIDI, N., STEINKAMP, M.W., & MAEHR, M.L. (1985). Genderdifferences in performance on tests of cognitive functioning. Ameta-analysis of research findings. Paper submitted for publication.

Functional Meanings of Behaviors

203

TRIANDIS, H.C. (1972). The analysis of subjective culture. New York: John Wiley & Sons. TRIANDIS, H.C., KILTY, K.M., SHANMUGAM, A.V., TANAKA, Y., & VASSILIOU, V. (1972). Cognitive structures and the analysis of values. In H.C. Triandis (Ed.), The analysis of subjective culture. New York: John Wiley. TULKIN, S. R. (1972). An analysis of the concept of cultural deprivation. Developmental

WHITE,

Psychology, 6, 326339.

R. W. (1959). Motivation

reconsidered: The concept of competence.

Psychological Review, 66, 297-333.

ABSTRACT

TRANSLATIONS

On a demands 2 cent soixante-cinq &&es de lyce'esau fles Vierges dans quelle mesure ils associaient 62 comportements differents I l'idik qu'ils se faisaient de la "r&ssite", de la "joie" et des "espCrances qu'ils formaient pour leur avenir". On leur a e'galement demands d'&aluer la fr6quence h laquelle ils faisaient l'expgrience de ces comportements. Les re'sultats ont montre' que les dl&es des Iles Vierges n'associaient pas le mot de "r&ssite" 1 des comportements acadkniques, mais bien avec le fait d'8tre modernes, attirants et entreprenants. De plus, les e'l&es pris individuellement gtaient moins susceptibles d'agir selon les comportements conside'r& par les enseignants occidentaux come devantmener ?I la rCussite acadknique, et plus aptes 1 avoir des comportements dont les critsres reflstent la r&ssite en g&&al. Les don&es montrent qua, bien que les Ql&es des Pies Vierges jouissent des activite's traditionnelles des Iles, ils n'ont pas l'impression d'avoir r&ssi lorsqu'ils les pratiquent. Les rC!sultats de l'enqucte sont interprgt& dans le contexte de ce qui est connu sur le comportement dans les accomplissements des enfants et des jeunes Ame'ricains de la classe moyenne, et des implications en sont tir6es pour l'sducation des jeunes de milieu culturels diff6rents et qui suivent des tours enseign6s dans le style occidental. (author supplied abstract)

Se les pidi6 a ciento sesentaicinco estudiantes de la escuela secundaria en las Islas Virgenes, el evaluar hasta que punto asociaban cada uno de 10s sesentaidos (62) comportamientos con sus conceptos de "&ito" (triunfo), "felicidad" y "expectativas satisfactorias". Tambi& se les pidio' el evaluar la frecuencia con la que ellos ejecutaban cada uno de 10s comportamientos. Los resultados indicaron que 10s estudiantes de las Islas Virgenes asociaban la palabra "Qxito" no con el comportamiento acad&nico, sine con el ser moderno, atractivo, inventive y tutelar. Por otra parte 10s estudiantes individuales se sienten menos inclinados a ejecutar esos comportamientos que 10s profesores europeos u occidentales creen que llevan al 6xito acad&nico, y es&n ma's inclinados a practicar esos comportamientos que la muestra coma un todo asocia con el tener e'xito. Los datos indican qua a pesar de que muchos estudiantes de las Islas Virgenes disfrutan con las actividades tradicionales de la Isla. ellos no sienten que tienen Qxito cuando se ocupan en estas actividades. Los resultados de esta investigacidn se interpretan dentro de1 context0 de lo que se conoce respect0 a las conductas de &ito (logro) de 10s nixios y jdvenes de la clase media americana, y se sacan deducciones pnra la ensexianza de personas jbvenes que tienen diversos antecedentes culturales, quienes asisten a clases ensei&das al modo occidental. (author supplied abstract)