Lin Xuefei, Lei Peiyao, Tan Qi, Xiong Bin
School of Mathematical Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Practice, Shanghai, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 22;16:1639938. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1639938. eCollection 2025.
This study explored the relationship between cultural values, goal orientation, and mathematics achievement in mainland China.
Structural equation modelling was used to analyze data collected from 1,004 first-year students of four majors in higher vocational colleges. This study adopted a four-dimensional goal orientation, including achievement (i.e., students' mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance) and society (i.e., family instrumental support goal orientation, and family emotional support goal orientation) to describe Chinese students' motivation.
The results indicated that mathematics achievement was positively related to mastery goal orientations and negatively related to the performance-avoidance goal orientation. Family recognition through achievement was found to positively predict the students' mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance, while conformity to norms was negatively linked to performance-approach orientations. Collectivism, on the other hand, was positively related to adopting the family support goal orientation and to mastery goal orientations, performance-approach. Nevertheless, emotional self-control was positively associated with students' mastery. Humility was positively related to performance-approach orientations, family instrumental support goal orientation and family emotional support goal orientation. It also had a direct positive predictive effect on mathematics achievement. The results of the bootstrap analyses further confirmed the mediating role of goal orientation in the relationship between cultural values and mathematics achievement: there were positive indirect paths through the mastery orientations, and negative indirect paths through the performance-avoidance goal orientation.
Potential explanations for the findings are discussed. This will help reveal the group specificity of cultural values and goal orientation theory, thereby supplementing the contextual adaptability of the theory.
本研究探讨了中国大陆文化价值观、目标导向与数学成绩之间的关系。
采用结构方程模型分析从1004名高职院校四个专业的一年级学生收集的数据。本研究采用四维目标导向，包括成就（即学生的掌握、成绩趋近和成绩回避）和社会（即家庭工具性支持目标导向和家庭情感支持目标导向）来描述中国学生的动机。
结果表明，数学成绩与掌握目标导向呈正相关，与成绩回避目标导向呈负相关。通过成就获得的家庭认可被发现能正向预测学生的掌握、成绩趋近、成绩回避，而对规范的遵从与成绩趋近导向呈负相关。另一方面，集体主义与采用家庭支持目标导向以及掌握目标导向、成绩趋近呈正相关。然而，情绪自我控制与学生的掌握呈正相关。谦逊与成绩趋近导向、家庭工具性支持目标导向和家庭情感支持目标导向呈正相关。它对数学成绩也有直接的正向预测作用。自抽样分析结果进一步证实了目标导向在文化价值观与数学成绩关系中的中介作用：存在通过掌握导向的正向间接路径，以及通过成绩回避目标导向的负向间接路径。
对研究结果的潜在解释进行了讨论。这将有助于揭示文化价值观和目标导向理论的群体特异性，从而补充该理论的情境适应性。
