Mastery Motivation in Early Childhood

Abstract

Early childhood is crucial in the lives of children for development of highly important competencies. The required motivation for this is obtained from the environment, in order to easily grasp such competencies. The best motivation comes from within the child, which is called mastery motivation: it spurs them to engage in tasks that help them obtain this competencies. The aim of this study is to determine the level of mastery motivation present in children. This is a quantitative research and the data is collected through surveys. The study sample totaled 417 children (211 males and 206 females), within an average age of 5 years and 9 months. The results were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA mean comparison test along with an independent t-test using SPPS. The analytical results showed that the level of mastery motivation in children is good. The one-way ANOVA test showed mean differences in mastery motivation dimensions, precisely the low mean score of social persistence compared with those of gross motor, cognitive, mastery pleasure, and social persistence each in adults. However, there are significant differences in the mean scores in male and female children present in only mastery pleasure dimensions, and absent in the others.