Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

Yulia Kovas; Gabrielle Garon-carrier; Michel Boivin; Stephen A. Petrill; Robert Plomin; Sergey B. Malykh; Frank Spinath; Kou Murayama; Juko Ando; Olga Y. Bogdanova; Mara Brendgen; Ginette Dionne; Nadine Forget-dubois; Eduard V. Galajinsky; Juliana Gottschling; Frédéric Guay; Jean-pascal Lemelin; Jessica A.r. Logan; Shinji Yamagata; Chizuru Shikishima; Birgit Spinath; Lee A. Thompson; Tatiana N. Tikhomirova; Maria Tosto; Richard Tremblay; Frank Vitaro

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006

Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

Yulia Kovas, Gabrielle Garon-carrier, Michel Boivin, Stephen A. Petrill, Robert Plomin, Sergey B. Malykh, Frank Spinath, Kou Murayama, Juko Ando, Olga Y. Bogdanova, Mara Brendgen, Ginette Dionne, Nadine Forget-dubois, Eduard V. Galajinsky, Juliana Gottschling, Frédéric Guay, Jean-pascal Lemelin, Jessica A.r. Logan, Shinji Yamagata, Chizuru ShikishimaBirgit Spinath, Lee A. Thompson, Tatiana N. Tikhomirova, Maria Tosto, Richard Tremblay, Frank Vitaro

Social Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9–16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency across ages, school subjects, and cultures. Contrary to common belief, enjoyment of learning and children’s perceptions of their competence were no less heritable than cognitive ability. Genetic factors explained approximately 40% of the variance and all of the observed twins’ similarity in academic motivation. Shared environmental factors, such as home or classroom, did not contribute to the twin’s similarity in academic motivation. Environmental influences stemmed entirely from individual specific experiences.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	51-63
Number of pages	13
Journal	Personality and Individual Differences
Volume	80
Early online date	5 Mar 2015
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006
Publication status	Published - 1 Jul 2015

Keywords

Enjoyment
Self-perceived ability
Twin studies
Cross-cultural study
Teacher/classroom effect
Individual differences

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10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006Licence: CC BY

Why children differ in motivation to learn_KOVAS_Accepted 4Feb2015_GOLD VoR
Open Access funded by Medical Research Council - Under a Creative Commons license - CC BY 4.0
Final published version, 0.99 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Kovas, Y., Garon-carrier, G., Boivin, M., Petrill, S. A., Plomin, R., Malykh, S. B., Spinath, F., Murayama, K., Ando, J., Bogdanova, O. Y., Brendgen, M., Dionne, G., Forget-dubois, N., Galajinsky, E. V., Gottschling, J., Guay, F., Lemelin, J., Logan, J. A. R., Yamagata, S., ... Vitaro, F. (2015). Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries. Personality and Individual Differences, 80, 51-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006

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abstract = "Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9–16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency across ages, school subjects, and cultures. Contrary to common belief, enjoyment of learning and children{\textquoteright}s perceptions of their competence were no less heritable than cognitive ability. Genetic factors explained approximately 40% of the variance and all of the observed twins{\textquoteright} similarity in academic motivation. Shared environmental factors, such as home or classroom, did not contribute to the twin{\textquoteright}s similarity in academic motivation. Environmental influences stemmed entirely from individual specific experiences.",

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author = "Yulia Kovas and Gabrielle Garon-carrier and Michel Boivin and Petrill, {Stephen A.} and Robert Plomin and Malykh, {Sergey B.} and Frank Spinath and Kou Murayama and Juko Ando and Bogdanova, {Olga Y.} and Mara Brendgen and Ginette Dionne and Nadine Forget-dubois and Galajinsky, {Eduard V.} and Juliana Gottschling and Fr{\'e}d{\'e}ric Guay and Jean-pascal Lemelin and Logan, {Jessica A.r.} and Shinji Yamagata and Chizuru Shikishima and Birgit Spinath and Thompson, {Lee A.} and Tikhomirova, {Tatiana N.} and Maria Tosto and Richard Tremblay and Frank Vitaro",

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Kovas, Y, Garon-carrier, G, Boivin, M, Petrill, SA, Plomin, R, Malykh, SB, Spinath, F, Murayama, K, Ando, J, Bogdanova, OY, Brendgen, M, Dionne, G, Forget-dubois, N, Galajinsky, EV, Gottschling, J, Guay, F, Lemelin, J, Logan, JAR, Yamagata, S, Shikishima, C, Spinath, B, Thompson, LA, Tikhomirova, TN, Tosto, M, Tremblay, R & Vitaro, F 2015, 'Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries', Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 80, pp. 51-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006

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T1 - Why children differ in motivation to learn

T2 - Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

AU - Kovas, Yulia

AU - Garon-carrier, Gabrielle

AU - Boivin, Michel

AU - Petrill, Stephen A.

AU - Plomin, Robert

AU - Malykh, Sergey B.

AU - Spinath, Frank

AU - Murayama, Kou

AU - Ando, Juko

AU - Bogdanova, Olga Y.

AU - Brendgen, Mara

AU - Dionne, Ginette

AU - Forget-dubois, Nadine

AU - Galajinsky, Eduard V.

AU - Gottschling, Juliana

AU - Guay, Frédéric

AU - Lemelin, Jean-pascal

AU - Logan, Jessica A.r.

AU - Yamagata, Shinji

AU - Shikishima, Chizuru

AU - Spinath, Birgit

AU - Thompson, Lee A.

AU - Tikhomirova, Tatiana N.

AU - Tosto, Maria

AU - Tremblay, Richard

AU - Vitaro, Frank

PY - 2015/7/1

Y1 - 2015/7/1

N2 - Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9–16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency across ages, school subjects, and cultures. Contrary to common belief, enjoyment of learning and children’s perceptions of their competence were no less heritable than cognitive ability. Genetic factors explained approximately 40% of the variance and all of the observed twins’ similarity in academic motivation. Shared environmental factors, such as home or classroom, did not contribute to the twin’s similarity in academic motivation. Environmental influences stemmed entirely from individual specific experiences.

AB - Little is known about why people differ in their levels of academic motivation. This study explored the etiology of individual differences in enjoyment and self-perceived ability for several school subjects in nearly 13,000 twins aged 9–16 from 6 countries. The results showed a striking consistency across ages, school subjects, and cultures. Contrary to common belief, enjoyment of learning and children’s perceptions of their competence were no less heritable than cognitive ability. Genetic factors explained approximately 40% of the variance and all of the observed twins’ similarity in academic motivation. Shared environmental factors, such as home or classroom, did not contribute to the twin’s similarity in academic motivation. Environmental influences stemmed entirely from individual specific experiences.

KW - Enjoyment

KW - Self-perceived ability

KW - Twin studies

KW - Cross-cultural study

KW - Teacher/classroom effect

KW - Individual differences

UR - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4406290/

U2 - 10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006

DO - 10.1016/j.paid.2015.02.006

M3 - Article

SN - 0191-8869

VL - 80

SP - 51

EP - 63

JO - Personality and Individual Differences

JF - Personality and Individual Differences

ER -

Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

Abstract

Keywords

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Origins of learning difficulties and behaviour problems: from behavioural genetics to behavioural genomics

Genetics of mathematical cognition and disabilities

Origins of learning difficulties and behaviour problems: From behavioural genetics to behavioural genomics

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Why children differ in motivation to learn: Insights from over 13,000 twins from 6 countries

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

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Origins of learning difficulties and behaviour problems: from behavioural genetics to behavioural genomics

Genetics of mathematical cognition and disabilities

Origins of learning difficulties and behaviour problems: From behavioural genetics to behavioural genomics

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