“Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised”: A preliminary study with Italian students

The aims of this work were to study (a) the presence of achievement goals as conceptualized by the 2 X 2 model (Elliot & McGregor, 2001) in Italian students from different school levels, and (b) the relationships between goals, pleasantness, and academic performance. To measure achievement goals we used an Italian version of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ-Revised, Elliot & Murayama, 2008). The participants were 365 fourth, seventh and eleventh graders who completed two questionnaires about two specific subject-matters, Italian and Mathematics. Each questionnaire included 12 items, three for each goal: mastery-approach (MAPG), mastery-avoidance (MAVG), performance-approach (PAPG) and performance-avoidance (PAVG). Pleasantness and academic performance were also measured. First, exploratory factor analyses were carried out: results indicated for both subject-matters the existence of three factors, relating to MAPG, MAVG and performance goals. The analyses were repeated separately for each class level, confirming the results obtained (except for Italian for the fourth graders). Secondly, repeated-measure ANOVAs were carried out, revealing that scores decreased as age increased for all goals (except for MAVG), and particularly for PAPG and PAVG. Third, regarding relationships between goals, pleasantness, and academic performance, preliminary analyses suggested significant positive correlations. This study allowed to analyse in depth such a complex issue, at a time when discrepancies from the literature highlight the need to compare achievement goals in different contexts within and between cultures. Further analyses on relationships between the considered variables could provide suggestions to teachers and educators on interventions aiming to modify negative attitudes towards learning.