Learning for Duty or Enjoyment: Two Paths to Fulfillment in Learning for Taiwanese High School Students in the Confucian Cultural Context

In the context of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), numerous published studies have argued that intrinsic motivation is the key to engaging students with their academic work, improving school performance, and acquiring psychological well-being. By contrast, an increasing body of research focusing on Eastern Asian Confucian societies, including Taiwan, has shed light on the salience of extrinsic motivation centered around role obligation and duty fulfillment. Scholars have argued that extrinsic motivation has a high value of encouraging students' effort making, enhancing their academic performance and providing them with psychological fulfillment. To help settle this theoretical dissonance, this research constructed and validated the two learning paths of Taiwanese students, the first, learning for duty, and the second, learning for enjoyment. A self-developed questionnaire on students' learning motivation, effort-making, academic performance, and acquired satisfaction was administered to 511 students in northern Taiwan. Structural equation modeling generated path analysis and model fit results that demonstrated that Taiwanese students possess two learning motivations followed by two types of psychological fulfillment. Specifically, intrinsic motivation based on personal interest predicted effort-making, with mediation of "learning satisfaction." Extrinsic motivation based on duty fulfillment directly predicted effort-making. Furthermore, "obligation satisfaction" emerged as a result of effort-making, regardless of students' different motivations. These findings regarding different learning motivations and satisfaction are valuable in reshaping the theoretical conception of learning motivation in a Confucian cultural setting. Relevant implications and suggestions for parenting and teaching are discussed.