Factor structure and predictive utility of the 2 × 2 achievement goal model in a sample of Taiwan students

This study examined structure and predictive utility of the 2 × 2 achievement goal model among Taiwan pre-university school students (ages 10 to 16) who learned Chinese language arts. The confirmatory factor analyses of Achievement Goal Questionnaire—Chinese version provided good fitting between the factorial and dimensional structures with the data. The mastery-avoidance goals are distinctive perceived by Taiwan students but do not mediate between self-efficacy and Chinese performance while other three achievement goals are effective mediators. When examining the mediating effects of the dimensional goal structure, the approach-avoidance factors along the valence dimension seemed to be more successful than the mastery-performance factors along the definition dimension. Taken together, our data strongly supports that AGQ-C is a reliable and valid measure for the 2 × 2 achievement goals.

Research Highlights► This study examined structure and predictive utility of the 2 × 2 achievement goal model among Taiwan pre-university school students. ► Our data strongly supports that Achievement Goal Questionnaire—Chinese version is a reliable and valid measure for the 2 × 2 achievement goals. ► When examining the mediating effects of the dimensional goal structure, the approach-avoidance factors along the valence dimension seemed to be more successful than the mastery performance factors along the definition dimension.