CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

One of the most important factors that lead one to their goals is the drive. This drive is known as motivation. It is a zest and determination with a kind of excitement that leads one perseveres to reach greater heights, no matter what avenue of their life be it personal or academic (Sign, 2011). The drive may come from on internal or external source. The individual determines this.

The factors that motivate an individual keep changing as one climb the ladder of age and maturity. Also achievement of one goal sets the ball rolling for another one to be achieved. Thus to be motivated is a constant need. There are times when one faces a period of de-motivation and everything seems weak. It is then that they need to find what would motivate them back into action.

Achievement motivation is generally regarded as the drive to achieve targets and the process to maintain the drive (Pinrich, 1996). Motivation provides an important foundation to complete cognitive behavior such as planning, organization, decision-making, learning and assessments (Schunk, 1996).

Spence and Helmreich (1983) defined achievements motivation as task-oriented behaviour. Performances of individuals are often compared against standards or with other for assessments. Atkinson (1964) viewed achievement motivation as comparison of performances with others and against certain standard activities.

To him, achievement motivation is a combination of two personality variables – tendency to approach success and tendency to avoid failure. Achievement motivation is the drive to work with diligence and vitality, to constantly steer toward targets, to obtain dominance in challenging and difficult tasks and create sense of achievement as a result (Bigge & Hunt, 1980).

On the flipside, self efficacy according to psychologist Albert Bandura (1966) is individual‘s belief that he/she can be able to accomplish a specific task. He believes that an essential component to accomplishing something is our confidence that we can.

Bandura referred to self efficacy as the minds self regulatory function. It tells us when to try and when to stop. If a student do not believe something is possible, he/she is less likely to attain a task and more likely to give up early. One important variable for the prediction of individual behavior is self efficacy.

Bandura (1997) points out that attitude and gender are influential to some extent for some people regardless of their mediating effect and self efficacy belief. Academic achievement is a term which represents performance outcomes that indicate the extent to which a person has accomplished specific goals that were the focused of activities in instructional environment, specifically in schools, colleges and university.

According to Nenty (1986), achievement is a function of personal as well as environmental factors, an individual tends to naively attribute his or her behaviour of the level of performance more to one, than the other of these factors where there is an internal motivated factor towards an important desire, an individual‘s level of performance usually increases.

More so, when interest is lost in some desirable goals, achievement is thwarted. It is because of this that educationists consider motivation as one of the important factors for any achievement vis a vis educational achievement.

Decades of research on self efficacy have contributed significantly as well as in dependently to our understanding of how critical students appraisals of themselves can be for their successful functioning and well being in school (Bong & Clark, 1999). This self construct has been particularly beneficial when used to predict or explain student‘s achievement motivation.

A substantial body to literature indicates that self-efficacy may be related to academic achievement. This suggests that achievement motivation and self-efficacy may be directly or indirectly related to academic achievement. Different levels of achievement motivation and self-efficacious beliefs may have different levels of correlation with achievement.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Rewards and compensation systems motivate people to give their maximum efforts towards assigned work. Compensation systems deliver other objectives such as legal compliance, labour cost control, perceived fairness towards a person and enhancement of his/her performance to achieve high level of productivity and satisfaction.

Sometimes, reward, self-efficacy beliefs are not taken serious as this can truly boast a person’s performance. Not organizing some benefits program such as payment of time not worked such as sick leave, during vacation, holidays and personal days.

unemployment compensation for people who have lost their job or are temporarily laid off get a percentage of their wages from an insurance-like program; disability and workers compensation benefits whereby employees contribute funds to help workers who cannot work due to occupational injury or ailment; and pensions or retirement plans in which most organizations offer plans to provide supplementary income to employees after they retire.

Finally, several research has been carried out on the teachers’ perception of the performance based rewards and commitment in public secondary schools in kikuyu sub-county but not even a single research has been carried out on reward perception and self efficacy beliefs as predictors of achievement motivation.

1. AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim and objectives of the study is to examine reward perception and self-efficacy beliefs as predictors of achievement motivation. Other specific objectives of the study include;

1. to determine the effect of reward perception and self-efficacy beliefs on achievement motivation.
2. to determine the relationship between reward perception, self-efficacy beliefs and achievement motivation.
3. to determine the extent to which reward perception and self-efficacy affects achievement motivation.
4. to proffer possible solutions to the problems.
   1. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.     What is the effect of reward perception and self-efficacy beliefs on achievement motivation?

2.     What is the relationship between reward perception, self-efficacy beliefs and achievement motivation?

3.     What is the extent to which reward perception and self-efficacy affects achievement motivation?

4.     What are the possible solutions to the problems?

1. RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Ho:  Reward perception and self-efficacy belief has no significant effect on achievement motivation.

Hi:   Reward perception and self-efficacy belief has a significant effect on achievement motivation.

1. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study on reward perception and self-efficacy beliefs as predictors of achievement motivation will be of immense benefit in the sense that it will enable all stakeholders in their efforts to restore the standard of education in the country. Teachers will also benefit from the research through encouraging and motivating students at all levels the importance of hard work and learning.

Educational psychologists and counselors will also benefit from the study as it will equips them with better understanding of the main thrust of the variables under investigation (achievement motivation and self efficacy).

This will in turn broaden their horizon thereby apply them appropriately in their task of behavior modification. Educational administrators and planners stand to benefit from this study in the sense that it will provide them with empirically data that will assist them in making formidable educational plans and programs that would support students in their achievement motivation and self efficacy.

Finally, the study will contribute to the body of existing literature and knowledge to this field of study and basis for further research.

1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study on the reward perception and self-efficacy beliefs is limited to predictors of achievement motivation.

1. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Time Constraints: One of the challenges experienced by the researcher is the issue of time; the research will simultaneously engage in departmental activities like seminars and attendance to lectures. But the researcher was able to meet up with the deadline for the submission of the project.

Financial Constraints: Every research work needs funding; however lack of adequate funds might affect the speed of the researcher in getting materials for completion of the project.

1.9   DEFINITION OF TERMS

Reward:   A thing given in recognition of service, effort, or achievement.

Perception:     Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment.

Self-Efficacy Belief:                Self-efficacy refers to an individual's belief in his or her capacity to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainments 

Predictor:        A person or thing that predicts that something will happen in the future or will be a consequence of something.

Achievement:         A thing done successfully with effort, skill, or courage.

Motivation:     A reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.