3. WHAT DO INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED ADOLESCENTS BELIEVE ABOUT THEIR MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT?

Ethnic identity

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Students were asked about their ethnic identity. In particular, two aspects were measured: (1) ethnic identity search (i.e., students’ efforts to find out more about their ethnic backgrounds) and (2) their ethnic identity affirmation and belonging (i.e., positive attitudes toward an ethnic group and a sense of belonging to the ethnic group).  We examined differences in these two aspects of ethnic identity based on their grade-level.

Middle and high school students reported higher levels of ethnic identity affirmation and belonging than college-aged students or higher. However, there was no difference in ethnic identity search between middle school, high school, and college-aged or older students.

School belonging

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School belonging refers to the extent to which students perceive themselves as an important part of the school context and feel accepted and supported by school members. Differences in students’ responses on school belonging were examined based on their age of adoption.

As the figure illustrates, students who were older than three years old at adoption reported lower levels of school belonging than students who were younger than one year old or between one and three years old at adoption.

Attribution

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Attribution reflects students’ ascriptions about the cause of an event or behavior. More specifically, we assessed students’ attributions to ability, effort, context, and luck for their academic successes and failures.

 

As the figure demonstrates, middle and high students were more likely to attribute their academic success or failure to their effort than college-aged or older students. In comparison, the latter students were more likely attribute their academic success or failure to their learning context (e.g., teachers and courses). There were no differences in students’ attributions to ability and luck.

Expectancy and value for learning in general

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We asked students about their attitudes toward learning in general. Students reported their perceived competence, expectancy for successful learning, intrinsic value (perceived enjoyment of engaging with learning), utility value (perceived usefulness of learning in his or her life), and attainment value (perceived importance of performing well in school for his or her identity).

 

When we examined differences based on students’ gender, female students reported higher levels of perceived competence in learning than male students. However, there were no gender differences in students’ expectancy, intrinsic value, utility value, and attainment value.

 

Expectancy and value for English/language arts

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We asked students about their attitudes toward English/Language arts (Eng). More specifically, students’ perceived competence, expectancy for successful learning, intrinsic value (perceived enjoyment of engaging with English/Language arts), utility value (perceived usefulness of English/Language arts in his or her life), and attainment value (perceived importance of performing well in English/Language arts for his or her identity) were measured.

 

As the figure illustrates, there were no gender differences in students’ perceived competence, expectancy, intrinsic value, utility value, and attainment value for English/Language arts.