Specific features of school students’ learning motivation at different levels of general education

Context and relevance. Academic motivation is a key factor contributing to students’ learning outcomes and personal development. In Russian educational psychology, the motivation of primary school children has been studied relatively well, whereas age-related changes in academic motivation during middle and high school remain insufficiently explored. Conducting an integrated analysis across different stages of schooling allows for a more comprehensive understanding of how motivational structures evolve with age. Objective. To identify age-related changes in the structure of academic motivation among students in Grades 4, 8, and 10, and to examine the specificity of internal, introjected, and external motivational forms at different levels of general education. Hypothesis. It was assumed that academic motivation undergoes significant developmental shifts: younger students demonstrate less differentiated motivational patterns, whereas adolescents and high school students exhibit stronger, more autonomous, and internally meaningful motives (cognitive motivation, self-development, achievement motivation). Methods and materials. For fourth-grade students, the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire (ASRQ), comprising seven scales, was used. For eighth- and tenth-grade students, the Academic Motivation Scale for Schoolchildren (S-AMQ / ШАМ-Ш), developed by T. Gordeeva, with eight scales, was applied. This methodological differentiation ensured the comparability of amotivational profiles across the age groups. Results. In primary school, the most pronounced components were self-development motivation, identified motivation, and intrinsic cognitive motivation, whereas external forms of regulation showed the lowest values. In middle school, the motivational structure became more differentiated: internal motives strengthened, introjected motives remained moderate, and external motivation decreased. Among high school students, internal motivation intensified further, particularly cognitive motivation, self-development, and achievement motivation, while external and introjected motives remained stable and amotivation stayed at low levels. Conclusion. The findings confirm the presence of distinct age-related dynamics in academic motivation. Younger students demonstrate predominantly autonomous and identified motives; adolescents exhibit more structured internal motivation; and high school students show the highest level of autonomous, internally integrated motives associated with self-determination and emerging professional orientation. These results may inform the development of age-sensitive educational practices aimed at supporting and enhancing students’ internal academic motivation.