Maintaining motivation and regulating emotion: Measuring individual differences in academic volitional strategies

This study examined self-regulatory strategies used by students to maintain motivation on academic goal tasks. Of particular interest were strategies for managing potentially disruptive emotional states. The Academic Volition al Strategy Inventory (AVSI) was developed to investigate this aspect of st udent self-regulatory behavior. Three separate student samples (n = 378; n = 463; n = 246) from a large southwestern university contributed to the ref inement of the AVSI, and supported theoretical arguments for the existence of volitional sell-regulatory action by students in maintaining academic ta sk motivation. Factor analyses performed on items for each administration o f the AVSI revealed a three-factor structure as providing a conceptually cl ear division of items. Item groupings consisted of strategies reflecting (1 ) self-efficacy enhancement, (2) stress reduction, and (3) negative-based i ncentives. Reliability estimates revealed strong internal consistency and s tability. Further analyses currently in progress to support the validity of the scale are also discussed. However, the preliminary results presented i n this paper suggest that the AVSI is a promising research instrument, and one that captures an aspect of self-regulatory action not adequately examin ed by existing instruments.