Motivation and engagement: Same or different? Does it matter?

Based on a sample of 5432 high school students, findings from CFA showed that well-established constructs can be demarcated into adaptive and maladaptive motivation and engagement. SEM showed there is commonality in the extent to which socio-demographic, prior achievement, and personality variables predict motivation and engagement, but there are also differences in the extent to which some motivation and engagement factors are predicted by these antecedents. There are also commonalities in the extent to which motivation and engagement factors predict outcomes; however, when considering outcomes in more thematic terms, some divergence in predictive patterns emerges. Further, based on a longitudinal sub-sample of 2002 high school students, model fit and explained variance provide tentative support for the claim that prior motivation is an impetus for subsequent engagement; however, there is also a role for prior engagement predicting subsequent motivation, ultimately suggestive of a cyclical process. Discussion centers on how these motivation and engagement alignments and distinctions matter.