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The present study investigated 3 theoretically plausible explanations for changes in school-related intrinsic motivation. A sample of 348 German 11th-grade students was followed for 1 year. At 2 measurement occasions, students completed self-reports regarding their school-related intrinsic motivation, goal orientations, and competence beliefs. In line with previous studies, cross-lagged analyses provided little evidence for the hypothesis that prior competence beliefs affect subsequent intrinsic motivation after controlling for prior intrinsic motivation. Considering goal orientations as a moderator did not change this result. Instead, learning goals, but not performance goals, directly predicted the change in students' intrinsic motivation, but not vice versa. Findings are discussed with regard to advancing motivation theory and practical implications.
Spinath et al. (Mon,) studied this question.