A Study of the Work Values and Achievement Motivation of Persons Eligible for Federal Job Training Programs in a Rural Service Delivery Area

Abstract

The focus of this study was an analysis of the work values and achievement motivation of persons eligible to participate in federal job training programs in a rural region in west central Michigan. Also under review were the possible differentiating effects of select biodemographic and educational variables (sex, age, years of formal education completed, and level of scholastic achievement) on the work values and achievement motivation of persons within this population. Finally, the study contained an examination of the relationship between achievement motivation and work values.\nThe subjects under study were 167 individuals (85 males and 82 females) who qualified for programs under the Jobs Training Partnership Act through the West Central Michigan Employment and Training Consortium. The data were collected using Hermans' (1970) Prestatic Motivation Test (PMT) and Super's (1968) Work Values Inventory (WVI). A two-way analysis of variance and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient were used to test the hypotheses under examination.\nThe hypotheses relevant to achievement motivation revealed differences based on sex for this construct while age, years of formal education completed and level of scholastic achievement did not prove to be discriminating variables. For the work values investigated, age and sex did not serve to differentiate the level of importance attributed to each work value. However, subgroup differences for the values Creativity, Independence, Variety, Economic Returns, and Intellectual Stimulation were noted based on the level of education or scholastic achievement attained. Lastly, achievement motivation was found to be positively correlated with seven of the fifteen work values: Creativity, Management, Surroundings, Esthetics, Prestige, Alturism and Intellectual Stimulation.\nThe results of the study suggest that, as a learned concept, achievement motivation may be subject to societal influences which may have differing effects on the construct for each sex. Value crystallization may also be subject to these forces especially as a person progresses through the formal education process. The relationship between achievement motivation and work values seems to suggest that a person's value structure may be the underlying framework of that individual's level of achievement motivation.

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