Students’ achievement motivation and psychosocial adaptation according to secondary schools’ socio-economic status
The purpose of this study was to verify if students’ achievement motivation and school psychosocial adaptation differ according to sex and to the school’s socio-economic status. The subjects included 5692 students from 24 public secondary French schools who answered a self-report questionnaire about achievement motivation and psychosocial adaptation. Multivariate (MANOVA) and univariate analyses (ANOVA) showed that students from schools in high SES milieu have less attraction toward school, are less task-oriented and are more ego-oriented. Also, they tend to be less adapted than other students. For their part, students from schools in low SES milieu perceive less school utility. These results partially contradict general public perceptions about schools located in low SES areas.