Household Factors that Influence Achievement Motivation of Female and Male Pupils in Kenya
Keywords:
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and internal drive, nAch, Achievement motivationAbstract
This study aims to investigate the influence of selected home environment and personal factors on achievement motivation of female and male primary school pupils in Kenya. Data were collected from a sample of 88 class seven pupils selected from three schools. One of the schools was in rural area, another in a low income neighbourhood and the third was in a military garrison in the city of Nairobi. The participants responded to thematic apperception test (TAT) which had 4 pictures to measure their achievement motivation also known as need for achievement (nAch). It emerged that there were no significant differences in nAch of pupils from different schools. Though both boys and girls had almost insufficient time to study at home, they also did not differ significantly in their levels of achievement motivation. Further, parents’ education level and the levels of encouragement given to pupils to study were not significantly related to the achievement motivation of both female and male pupils. Other factors not considered in the hypotheses of the study came in to confound the results. An example is the age of pupils, which was found to have the highest and only significant relationship with achievement motivation. There is need to consider a wider sample in future studies.
References
Achaya, N. and Joshi, S. (2011). Achievement motivation and parental support to adolescents.
Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology. January, Vol. 37 No. 132-
Amalaha, B. M. (1975). Academic achievement of Ibo fifth formers, Nigeria. Dissertation
abstracts International. 44 University Microfilms, No.840087
Ary D., Jacobs L.C. and Razavieh S. (1990). Introduction to research in education (4th ed.).
Fort Worth Chicago: Holt Rhinehart and Winston, Inc.
Atkinson, J. (1964).An introduction to motivation. New Jersey: Van Nostrad Inc.
Atkinson, J. (1992). Motivational determinants of thematic apperception. In C. P. Smith (ed.)
Motivation and Personality: Handbook thematic content analysis. New York:
Cambridge University Press.
Atkinson, J. W. (1958) Motives in fantasy, action and society . Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrad
Inc.
Atkinson, J. W. and Feather, N. (1966). A theory of achievement motivation. New York:
Wiley.
Bali S., Drewnth P., Flier V. and Young W. (1984). Contribution of aptitude tests to the
prediction of aptitude tests of school performance in Kenya: A Longitudinal study.
Lisse: Swets and Zeitligher.
Bunyi, G. W. (2004). Gender disparities in higher education in Kenya, nature, extend and the
way forward. The African Symposium: A Special Journal of Education.
Douglas, J. (1964). Educational Report of the National Seminar on Women’s Access to
Higher Education in Kenya. Nairobi: Bureau of Educational Research, Kenyatta
University.
Douglas, J. (1985). The education of women in Kenya. Bureau of Educational Research,
Kenyatta University.
Eshiwani, G. S. (1983). Access without success: Some reflection on achievement in education
in Western Kenya. Bureau of Education Research, Kenyatta University College,
Kenya.
Fraser, E. (1973). Home Environment and School. London: University of LondonPress Ltd.
Hartely, J. and Hogarth, F. (1971). Academic motivation and programmed learning. The
British Journal of Educational Psychology, 41, 171-183.
Heckhausen, H. (1967). The anatomy of achievement motivation. New York: Academic Press.
Hieronymus, A. (1951). A study of social class motivation: Relationships between anxiety for
education and certain socio-economic and intellectual variables. Journal of
Educational Psychology. 42: 193-205.
Kivito, E. M. (1989). A study of the relationship between Kenyan secondary school pupils’
achievement motivation and educational/occupational levels of their parents.
Unpublished Master of Education thesis, Kenyatta University.
Lewis, D. (1981). You can teach your child intelligence. London: Souvenir Press Ltd.
Maina, G. (2002). Causes of girls low participation in schools: Challenges and solutions. A
paper presented To a writer panel for non-formal education in Nairobi, Kenya.
Maundu, J. (1980).A study of the relationship between Kenyan secondary school pupils’
need to achieve and their performance in school subjects. Master of Education
unpublished thesis, University of Nairobi.
McClelland, D. C. (1961). The achieving society. Free Press, New York.
McClelland, D. C. (1955). Some social consequences of achievememt motivation. In M. R.
Jones (Ed.) Nebraska Symposium of Motivation. Lincoln: University of Nebraska
Press.
McClelland, D.C., Atkinson J.W., Clark, R. and Lowell. E. L. (1953). The achievement
motive. New York: Irvington Publishers Inc.
Mehta, P. (1969). The achievement motives in high school boys. New Delhi: National Council
of Education Research and Training.
Morgan, C. D. and Murray, H. A. (1938). Thematic Apperception Test method of investigating
fantancies and achievement motivation. Archives of Neurology and Psychology,
, 298-306.
Murray, H. A. (1938).Exploration in personality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Musgrove, F. (1971). The family, education and society. London: Roughtledge and Kegan
Paul.
Nyassy, D. (2006). Over 250 girls rescued from early marriage in Kenya. The Sunday Nation
(Newspaper) 3rd September.
Obura, A. and Kombo, D. (1992). The girl child: Opportunities and disparities ineducation.
UNICEF Workshop Report 6th – 8th July, Gaberone, Botswana.
Okwiri-Acan, S. (1983). A study of home factors influencing academic achievement of primary
seven pupils in Gulu District of Uganda. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Makerere
University.
Osire, J. (1983) A study of certain factors related to academic success of primary several
pupils in Uganda. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Makerere University.
Papanek, F. (1977). Development planning for women. Sign. 3 no 1 Autumn.
Popnsi, F. (1988). Sex and birth-order selective under-enrolment of Kenya’s arid and semiarid districts the “Kepyiond” phenomenon. Working Paper no. 462, Institute of
Development Studies, University of Nairobi pp. 1- 4, 14 –19.
Proter, M. (1990) Swahili girls’ education: An examination of the issue. Basic Educational
Resources Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa (BERC) Bulletin. 18, 7 – 11
Rosen, C. (1959). Race, ethnicity and the achievement syndrome. American Sociological
Review. 26, 574-585.
Rosen, C. and D’ Andrade, R. (1959). The psychological origins of achievement motivation.
Sociometry. 22,
-218.
Shaffer, D. (1989) Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence (2nd ed.). Pacific
Grove, California: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
Shiundu, J. and Karugu, A. (1991). Education of the females in Kenya: Situational analysis of
the state of the female child in Kenya. Unpublished Research Project , Kenyatta
University.
Soko, M. L. I. (2010). Exploratory of students’ perceptions of the factors contributing to
secondary school dropout in Malindi, Kenya, Master of Education unpublished
thesis, Kenyatta University.
Strobel, M. (1979). Muslim women in Mombasa. 1890 – 1975. New Haven, Yale.
Tavani, C. M. and Loshi, S. C. (2003). Motivation, self-confidence and expectations as
predictors of the academic performances among our high school students. Child
Study Journal, 33 (3), 141-148.
Tomkins, S. (1947). Thematic apperception test: The theory and technique of interpretation.
New York: Grune and Stilton.
UNESCO (2003).Gender and education for all: The lip quality. Paris UNESCO Publishing.
Wamahiu, S. (1984). Educational needs of rural women in Kenya: Research priority. Basic
Education Resource Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa (BERC) Bulletin. 10, 3-6.