Exploring the Link between Achievement Goals, Motivation, and Parental Expectations among University Students in Kosovo

Oct 15, 2026

Study examines how achievement goals, motivation, and parental expectations are associated among 600 university students in Kosovo’s higher education institutions. Research also tests whether cultural differences mediate the expected relationships. Findings show mastery of goals positively relates to intrinsic motivation, and curiosity subscale predicts preferences for mastery goals. Performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals correlate with extrinsic motivation, which predicts preferences for both performance types, while all goal types in the sample relate to intrinsic motivation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Achievement goal theories: An overview

Link between achievement goals, motivation, and parental expectations

Exploring the Link between Achievement Goals, Motivation, and Parental Expectations among University Students in Kosovo Albulene Grajcevci*1 and Arif Shala2 • This paper sheds light on the link between achievement goals, motivation, and parental expectations in a sample of 600 students attending higher education institutions in Kosovo. Aside from exploring the stipulated link between the constructs, the research aims to discover whether cultural differences mediate expected results. The results proved that the mastery of goals positively correlates to intrinsic motivation in addition to which curiosity as a subscale of intrinsic motivation positively predicted preferences for the mastery of goals. As expected, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals, correlated to extrinsic motivation with extrinsic motivation, successfully predict preferences for both types of performance goals. The data proved that among students in Kosovo, all types of goals correlated to intrinsic motivation. Achievement goals were differentiated in extrinsic motivation with mastery goals correlating rather weakly to only one subscale of extrinsic motivation. Keywords: achievement goals, Kosovo, motivation, parental expectations 1 *Corresponding Author. Professional Development Institute-PDI, Prishtina, Kosovo; [grajcevci.albulene@pdi-ks.org](grajcevci.albulene@pdi-ks.org). 2 Professional Development Institute-PDI, Prishtina, Kosovo. 148 exploring the link between achievement goals, motivation, and parental ... Ugotavljanje povezav med cilji dosežkov, motivacijo in pričakovanji staršev študentov na Kosovu Albulene Grajcevci in Arif Shala • Prispevek osvetljuje povezavo med cilji dosežkov, motivacijo in pričakovanji staršev na vzorcu šeststotih študentov, ki obiskujejo visokošolske izobraževalne ustanove na Kosovu. Poleg raziskovanja povezav med omenjenimi konstruktije bil raziskovalni namen tudi ugotoviti, ali kulturne razlike napovedujejo pričakovane rezultate. Rezultatiso pokazali, da je obvladovanje ciljev pozitivno povezano z notranjo motivacijo, poleg tega pa je radovednost kot podraven notranje motivacije pozitivno napovedovala preferenco po obvladovanju ciljev. Rezultati so pokazali, da so bili med študenti na Kosovu različni cilji povezaniz notranjo motivacijo. Cilji dosežkov so bili diferencirani v zunanji motivaciji z obvladovanjem ciljev, ki je bil precej šibko povezan samo v enipodravni zunanje motivacije. Ključne besede: cilji dosežkov, Kosovo, motivacija, pričakovanja staršev Introduction Achievement goals represent an interesting topic of research. Initially, they attracted attention due to the compelling evidence that linked goals to different outcomes. The achievement goals theory postulates that there are two types of goals that foster achievement behaviour in learners (Dweck & Legget, 1988), namely mastery and performance goals. Mastery goals are reported to endorse learning and understanding while performance goals encourage the demonstration of competences and skills in regard to other learners. Behavioural, cognitive and emotional outcomes differ according to the type of goal endorsed by the learner (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002) . Maehr and Zusho (2009) propound the view that learners who are mastery approach oriented will be intrinsically motivated, will employ personal standards and will learn from mistakes as much as they learn from successes. In contrast, performance-approach learners will be motivated to perform better than others. Ultimately, students who endorse performance-avoidance goals will only be concerned with not looking incompetent (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002) . There is ample evidence from previous studies that mastery-approach goals are linked to better academic competences and learning, compared to performance goals, which correlate to lower learning and competences (Maehr & Zusho, 2009). The current literature on achievement goals abounds with examples of studies reporting

FAQs

What is the main purpose of this study?

The study investigates the link between achievement goals, motivation, and parental expectations among university students in Kosovo, and whether cultural differences mediate expected results.

How do mastery goals relate to motivation?

Mastery of goals positively correlates with intrinsic motivation, and the curiosity subscale of intrinsic motivation positively predicts preferences for mastery of goals.

What role does extrinsic motivation play in performance goals?

Performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals correlate with extrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation successfully predicts preferences for both types of performance goals.

Oct 15, 2026

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