Further development of the Motivational Style Profile for Children

Abstract

The Motivational Style Profile for Children (MSP-C) was designed to measure metamotivational orientations, saliences and dominances in children aged eight to fifteen years. Data from previous samples were further analyzed statistically and a 15-paired version was developed and further piloted on Hong Kong and French samples. Further reliability testing and factor analysis of the 50-item, 25- paired, and 15-paired versions for cultural samples suggest the MSP-C to be a viable and reliable instrument for the measurement of metamotivational characteristics of children between 9 and 15 years of age. Significant cultural differences in metamotivational characteristics were found in that Hong Kong children were more telic-, arousal avoidance-, and mastery-dominant compared to the British and French children, suggesting an influence of Chinese Confucian values. The 15-paired version of the MSP-C yielded a sound factor structure superior to that of the 25-paired one. While a few Cronbach Alphas were still below recommended magnitude, the meaningful factor structure and the brevity and convenience of the new format warrant its adoption. Future research is recommended to test the psychometric properties of the 15-paired version of the measure for different cultural samples.