The adaptation and validation of the Parents Motivational Messaging Scale (PMMS) in higher education

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Spray, E., Remedios, R. ORCID: 0000-0002-7717-6421, Freeman, E. and Bradley, T., 2024. The adaptation and validation of the Parents Motivational Messaging Scale (PMMS) in higher education. In: Psychology of Education Section Annual Conference 2024, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, 11-12 September 2024.

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Abstract

University learners must regulate themselves far more independently than is required in typical school contexts. Therefore, individual differences in dispositions towards learning are particularly important for successful navigation of university learning environments. A recent addition to existing dispositional instruments is the Parents Motivational Messaging Scale (Remedios, 2023), which comprises twenty items describing five dimensions reflective of the way students experience motivational messages from their parents. The PMMS evolved from work in teachers’ motivational messaging (Putwain et al., 2021) and has been trialled in England with GCSE and A-level students. The original four subscales of the instrument measure participants’ sense of pride, reassurance, behaviour and consequence, and this has been extended with a fifth subscale: value placed on advice. Pilot research projects have generally shown acceptable reliabilities, however these have been somewhat inconsistent. This study reports on new data collected via an online survey from undergraduate students in an Australian higher education setting (n.>130, data collection is ongoing). Preliminary exploratory factor analysis indicates a clear five component structure, reflecting the intended five dimensions and with strong loadings, typically >.8 (ranging from .634 to .937). Initial validation of internal scale reliabilities are very good, with one subscale at .845 (consequence) and the other four subscales returning Cronbach’s alphas between .912-.968. This presentation will report final psychometrics once data collection is complete, however current analysis indicates that this instrument is eminently suitable for use in higher education settings. Further work will examine possible demographic variation in students’ perceptions of parents’ motivational messages and potential relationships with other dispositional constructs.

Item Type:

Conference contribution

Creators:

Spray, E., Remedios, R., Freeman, E. and Bradley, T.

Date:

11 September 2024

Identifiers: