ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTIVATIONAL GOAL ORIENTATIONS AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG IRANIAN STUDENTS

Recent studies about achievement motivation mostly focus on individuals’ goals in academic situations which might affect educational behaviors and students’ academic achievement outcomes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivational goal orientations and academic achievement of high school students of Shiraz, Iran. In total, 835 high school students of Shiraz participated in this study. The participants filled in the Inventory of School Motivation. The Grade Point Average (GPA), mathematics and English final exam scores of the students were gathered. The data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient. The analysis of the data indicated that the GPA had a positive meaningful relationship with competition, effort and social concern goals and it had a negative meaningful relationship with social power and token goals. The score of mathematics and English had a positive meaningful relationship with effort goal and it had a negative meaningful relationship with social power and token goals. Different motivational goals orientation can have significant effects on students’ academic achievement outcomes. The implication of this study is that it helps the officials of the education systems and families to be more cognizant of the students’ goal orientations in their schooling and to pave the way for students to achieve their goal and improve their educational performance.