Ethnic Differences in Teacher-Oriented Achievement Motivation: A Study Among Early Adolescent Students in the Netherlands

Among 4th-6th-grade students (165 girls, 150 boys) in the Netherlands, the author examined ethnic differences in two aspects of teacher-oriented academic motivation: working in order to please the teacher and dependence on the teacher for academic help. Given higher levels of power distance in Turkish and Moroccan versus Dutch culture, both measures and their correlates were compared for 132 Turkish- and Moroccan-Dutch students, and 183 ethnic Dutch students. Analyses showed that Turkish- and Moroccan-Dutch students scored higher on pleasing the teacher and dependence on the teacher. For them, but not for the ethnic Dutch students, teacher-oriented motivation was positively related to intrinsic motivation and perceived academic competence. Also, students from all groups reported more dependence on the teacher and more intrinsic motivation the more they appreciated their teachers. Results support the notion that teacher-oriented extrinsic motivation is autonomous, rather than controlled for students from power-distant cultures.