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Boring but important: a self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

ABSTRACT: Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in 4 studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with more of a purpose for learning also persisted longer on a boring task rather than giving in to a tempting alternative and, many months later, were less likely to drop out of college. Study 2 addressed causality. It showed that a brief, one-time psychological intervention promoting a self-transcendent purpose for learning could improve high school science and math grade point average (GPA) over several months. Studies 3 and 4 were short-term experiments that explored possible mechanisms. They showed that the self-transcendent purpose manipulation could increase deeper learning behavior on tedious test review materials (Study 3), and sustain self-regulation over the course of an increasingly boring task (Study 4). More self-oriented motives for learning--such as the desire to have an interesting or enjoyable career--did not, on their own, consistently produce these benefits (Studies 1 and 4).

SUBMITTER: Yeager DS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4643833 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Boring but important: a self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Yeager David S DS Henderson Marlone D MD Paunesku David D Walton Gregory M GM D'Mello Sidney S Spitzer Brian J BJ Duckworth Angela Lee AL

Journal of personality and social psychology 20141001 4

Many important learning tasks feel uninteresting and tedious to learners. This research proposed that promoting a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose could improve academic self-regulation on such tasks. This proposal was supported in 4 studies with over 2,000 adolescents and young adults. Study 1 documented a correlation between a self-transcendent purpose for learning and self-reported trait measures of academic self-regulation. Those with more of a purpose for learning also persisted longer ...[more]

PMID: 25222648

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Project description:The evidence regarding associations between intensity-specific physical activity and cognitive and learning outcomes in preschoolers is inconsistent and limited by low sample sizes and analytical approaches that cannot handle the multicollinearity among multiple physical activity intensity variables. We aimed to determine the multivariate physical activity intensity signatures associated with self-regulation, executive function, and early academic learning in preschool children aged 3-5 years. A 711 Norwegian preschool children (mean age 4.6 years, 52% boys) provided valid data on physical activity (ActiGraph GT3X+), self-regulation, executive function, and early academic learning during 2019-2020. Multivariate pattern analysis was used to determine associations between uniaxial and triaxial intensity spectra (time spent in intensities from 0-99 to ≥15,000 counts per minute) and the outcomes in the total sample and in subgroups split by sex and age (median split). Uniaxial data led to the highest explained variances (R 2) and were reported as the primary findings. We found significant association patterns between physical activity and numeracy (R 2 = 4.28%) and inhibition (R 2 = 1.48%) in the total sample. The associations with numeracy were negative for time spent sedentary (0-99 counts per minute) and positive for time spent in moderate to vigorous intensities (≥ 1,000 counts per minute). The associations with inhibition were positive for time spent sedentary (0-99 counts per minute) and in vigorous intensities (≥ 8,500 counts per minute) and negative for time spent in low to moderate intensities (100-3,499 counts per minute). Associations with numeracy were stronger in boys (R 2 = 5.58%) and older children (R 2 = 7.27%), and associations with inhibition were stronger in girls (R 2 = 3.12%) and older children (R 2 = 3.33%). In conclusion, we found weak associations with numeracy and inhibition across the physical activity intensity spectrum in preschool children.

Dataset Information

Boring but important: a self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

Publications

Boring but important: a self-transcendent purpose for learning fosters academic self-regulation.

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