Why one can't «motivate teenagers to study»: existential and academic motivation of adolescents aged 15–16

• Чернявская Валентина Станиславовна

  Valentina S. Chernyavskaya. Vladivostok State University. Vladivostok. Russia

Abstract. The problem of the lack of data on adolescent motivation is discussed in the context of the interrelationships of fundamental existential motivation and school motivation in conditions where motivation is viewed as a means of manipulation. The goal of clarifying the psychological features of the interrelation-ships of existential motivation and school motivation of a teenager has been set and achieved. The author's view of motivation as an internal resource, rather than an external incentive, is presented. Within the framework of the theoretical analysis, the age-related features of personality development, leading activities in the context of motivation are shown. The results of impaired development of adolescent motivation are described, such as infantilism and weaponized incompetence. An empirical study was conducted on a sample of N = 76 schoolchildren aged 14–15. Research methods – the test of school motivation by V. Hennig and the TEM method – the test of existential motivations by A. Langle (Shumsky et al.) The results of the comparison of existential fundamental motivations (A. Langle's existential analysis) and the detailing of educational motives (V. Hennig) are presented. The data of the correlation analysis showed a close rela-
tion of the existential and educational motives of adolescents. However, each fundamental existential motivation is connected with school motives in a special way, revealing the essence of the inner source of the teenager's personality, rather than external stimulation.
Keywords: teenagers, school motivation, existential motivation, interrelation, internal dialogue, age characteristics.