Factor Structure, Reliability and Measurement Invariance of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire in Male and Female University Students

Subject Areas :

zahra shabrokh foumani ¹ , Seyed ali Hosseini Almadani ²

1 - دانشجوی دکترا
2 - psychology department, isalamic azad university north branch

Received: 2020-10-13 Accepted : 2021-06-10 Published : 2023-08-23

Keywords: Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Revised (AGQ-R), sex differences,

Abstract :

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate psychometric properties of the Achievement Goal Questionnaire- Revised (AGQ-R, Elliot & Murayama, 2008) among Iranian male and female university students. 332 students (141 male and 191 female) completed the AGQ-R, the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (SEI, Salmela-Aro & Upadaya, 2012) and the School Burnout Inventory (SBI, Salmela-Aro, Kiuru, Leskinen & Nurmi, 2009). The confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis methods were used to compute the AGQ-R's factorial validity and its gender invariance, respectively. The results of confirmatory factor analysis based AMOS software showed that the fore factor model of AGQ-R (mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach and performance-avoidance) fit well to the data across two groups. The results of multi-group confirmatory factor analysis revealed the cross-group invariance of factorial structure, factor loadings, and factor variances and covariance’s of the AGQ-R across male and female university students. Internal consistency for the different types of achievement goals consisting of mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals was 0/76, 0/78, 0/90 & 0/85, respectively. In sum, the findings emphasizing the group invariance of factorial structure of AGQ-R in male and female students suggested that it measured the same construct in these two groups. On the other hand, these findings provide evidence for the validity and reliability of the AGQ-R to measure achievement goals in the 2×2 conceptual framework in both sexes.