Motivation as a Predictor of College Success

Abstract

The present Orientation Inventory and the results obtained from its use are still inadequate when compared to its potentialities. At present its usefulness is primarily limited to indicating areas which are important for prediction and secondarily for use in prediction formulas. The findings indicate that an extension in the length of the test with items centered about the areas of motivation, adjustment and study habits, in that order of importance, should produce an instrument highly useful in the prediction of scholastic success. Certain observations are important for the development of such an instrument. Not only should the items be relatively objective in the sense that the individual can easily estimate the actual time factors asked for, but the items should be indicative of the area being measured and still should be somewhat disguised as to their real pupose. The ultimate aim in constructing such tests is to discover items which may be used before the individual enters college. Certain items in the present Orientation Inventory may be inadequate because the responses established for the individual taking the test are too broad. For example, one item (item 8) provides categories of a 9-point range. This item might be more discriminating if put on a 3- or 6-point range. The specific items used successfully in this study represent broad areas of psychological importance. They have proved to be reasonably successful in a College of Agriculture where the required portion of the program is not always what the individual expected it to be. The students were selected so as to eliminate this factor insofar as possible by including only the men enrolled in the college. The success of the items in the Orientation Inventory, therefore, may or may not be unique to one college. However, they do provide indications of areas in which further study may profitably be made and in which considerable research is necessary. Studies such as that of May (2) showing the relationship of study hours per week to academic success have been, for some reason, neglected as leads for prediction studies. Although more restricted in scope than the present study they, too, have indicated the importance of motivational influences even though not ostensibly so.