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UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION 55Personal and Sociocultural Factors
The attitudes, beliefs, and experiences students bring to college
based on their personal and sociocultural experiences influence their
motivation and behavior, and even their persistence or departure from
college. When you walk into your first college class, you bring all your
precollege experiences with you, such as your study and learning
strategies, attitudes and beliefs about your ability to succeed in col-
lege, your coping strategies, and the level of commitment to meet per-
sonal goals. All of these attributes will influence the way you interact
with the college environment. If you receive a low grade on a paper
or exam, will you remind yourself of your ability to succeed, or will
you say something like: “Here we go, just like high school. I don’t
know if I can do well in this course?” All your past experiences with
stressful situations and the way you handled them will influence your
ability to deal with new stressful situations in your college environ-
ment. You are going to learn new copying strategies in this course (see
chapter 5) that should result in a reduction of stress and increase con-
fidence in your ability to succeed in college.
You also are influenced by your family and cultural experiences.
Family characteristics such as socioeconomic levels, parental educa-
tional levels, and parental expectations can influence motivation and
behavior. For example, first-generation and ethnic minority students
have a more difficult time adjusting to college than do second- or
third-generation college students (Ratcliff, 1995). Transition to col-
lege can be difficult for any student, but when an individual has
family members who have experienced this transition, he or she is
less likely to feel lost in a new or unfamiliar environment or unsure
about what questions to ask. Also, Reglin and Adams (1990)
reported that Asian American students are more influenced by their
parents’ desire for success than are their non–Asian American peers.
They pointed out that the desire by Asian American students to meet
their parents’ academic expectations creates the need to spend more
time on academic tasks and less time on nonacademic activities. In
what ways has your family influenced your goals, motivation, and
behavior?
Here is a list of some other student characteristics that can influence
adjustment and involvement in college (adapted from Jalomo, 1995):- Married students with family obligations
- Single parents
- Students who never liked high school or who were rebellious in
high school - Students who were not involved in academic activities or stu -
dent groups during high school