Conducted research examined achievement motivation in South African university students. As rationale for the study, it was noted that despite the strenuous efforts the country is making toward equity and equality in all areas--including education--racial conflict and tension continue. However, almost all groups agree the solution to these problems is education.
Given the barriers many experience in South Africa in obtaining quality education, one factor which may help individuals to hurdle obstacles is having high levels of achievement motivation. Cited research showed that achievement motivation is repeatedly associated with both academic and career success. The question was asked whether achievement motivation levels may be different for Coloureds and Africans given the different histories they have had with respect to Apartheid and education during Apartheid rule. In addition, research exists indicating that amid racial conflicts, there is a tendency for racial groups to perceive one another negatively. The question was also asked as to whether Coloureds' and Africans' views of their respective group's achievement motivation would be comparable to their perceptions of the achievement motivation levels of their own racial group.
To provide answers for these questions, Coloured and African students at the University of the Western Cape, the University of Cape Town, and the University of Stellenbosch were asked to complete several instruments. These instruments measured: levels of achievement motivation, the degree of importance students attached to success, the strategies students used for academic success, students' perceived levels of their own achievement motivation levels and their own racial groups' achievement motivation levels, and students' perceived levels of other racial groups' achievement motivation levels.
The collected data showed some differences between racial groups' degree of importance attached to school success. It was found that with respect to personal levels of achievement motivation, Africans rated theirs significantly higher than they did Coloureds. Africans also perceived the achievement motivations of their entire group to be somewhat higher than Coloureds. The findings were interpreted to indicate the different problems with the cross-cultural measurement and the static nature of construct.
