D. Dahourou et al., PREDICTION OF PERFORMANCE FROM MOTIVATION AND ABILITY INFORMATION IN BURKINA-FASO ADOLESCENTS, The Journal of psychology, 129(4), 1995, pp. 417-431
Many studies, using information integration theory, have been devoted
to the prediction of performance on the basis of ability and motivatio
n information. However, it appears that only two societies, American a
nd East Indian, have been examined with regard to their prevalent perf
ormance prediction model. Participants in this study were school child
ren in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Considerable differences between ind
ividuals were expected because, as a consequence of colonization, Burk
ina Faso has been torn between two different value systems: a collecti
vistic system, with traditional tribal Burkinabe values, and an indivi
dualistic system, with occidental values. The study's most notable fin
ding was the coexistence of these two value systems within the same so
ciety. The predominant logic of Western societies, that increased moti
vation will result in increased rewards when initial ability is high,
was utilized by 42% of the children; in contrast, 38% of the children
applied the dominant logic expressed by East Indian researchers, who h
ave found that regardless of the level of ability, any amount of motiv
ation will result in an identical improvement in performance.