Age and Cultural Differences in Self-Perceptions of Mastery Motivation and Competence in American, Chinese, and Hungarian School Age Children

Table 3

Means, standard deviations, and comparisons of the three age groups of American children.

DMQ scales	7–9 y	10–12 y	13–17 y			Partial; eta^2	Age group comparisons
MANOVA				6.24	<.001	.19
Cognitive persistence	4.08; (0.72)	4.02; (0.64)	3.36; (0.68)	25.83	<.001	.21	8, 11 > 16
Gross motor persistence	4.27; (0.79)	4.38; (0.59)	3.59; (0.95)	13.23	<.001	.16	8, 11 > 16
Social persistence with adults	3.51; (1.03)	3.67; (0.79)	3.28; (0.82)	3.13	.046	.03	8, 11, 16
Social persistence with peers	4.01; (0.75)	4.23; (0.56)	3.40; (0.75)	24.22	<.001	.20	8, 11 > 16
Total persistence	3.97; (0.63)	4.07; (0.49)	3.41; (0.61)	25.98	<.001	.21	8, 11 > 16
Mastery pleasure	4.13; (0.79)	4.05; (0.75)	3.82; (0.88)	2.97	.053	.03	8, 11, 16
Competence	3.93; (0.90)	3.86; (0.87)	3.65; (0.70)	2.53	.083	.03	8, 11, 16

Note. Standard deviations are in parenthesis below the means. The 7–9- year-old group is labeled 8 in the age group comparisons column because their mean age was approximately 8. Similarly, the 10–12- year- and the 13–17- year-old groups are labeled 11 and 16; 8, 11 > 16 means there was no difference between 8- and 11-year old, but both were higher than 16. A  < .01 was considered statistically significant.