A Confirmatory Study on the Motivational Orientations of Older Adults Involved in Formal Education at the University of Maryland
A Confirmatory Study on the Motivational Orientations of Older Adults Involved in Formal Education at the University of Maryland
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Date
1988
Authors
McMahon, Megan Catherine
Advisor
Riddick, Carol Cutler
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was two-fold. One objective
was to confirm Pritchard's (1978) typology of older adults'
motives for education participation. Another purpose was to
examine the influence that selected demographic variables
(age, gender, socioeconomic status, and marital status) had
on motivations of older students to participate in the
"Golden Identification" (Golden I.D.) Program at the
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland. The sample
consisted of 160 participants from the Golden I.D. Program
who were selected through a systematic probability sampling
procedure.
A mailed questionnaire comprised of three instruments
was used for conducting this research. The first part of
the questionnaire measured motivational orientations for
participation in education by older adults and consisted of
the Education Participation Scale for Older Adults and the
Older Learner Participation Scale. The third instrument
measured demographic characteristics of the study
participants.
The results revealed that the motivation of the Golden
I.D. students to participate in education can be divided
into the following six factors (in decreasing order of
importance): "cognitive interest," "self actualization,"
"adaptation/self-understanding," "social contact," "social
contribution," and "escape/stimulation . " Furthermore,
significant relationships emerged between the socioeconomic
status of the participant, and the motives "social
contribution," "escape/stimulation," and "self
actualization." The implications of these findings and
recommendations for further research are discussed.