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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
General Motivation Domains & Behavioral Specificity Across Motivations, Justin B. Christensen, David C. Dollahite, Sam A. Hardy
General Motivation Domains & Behavioral Specificity Across Motivations, Justin B. Christensen, David C. Dollahite, Sam A. Hardy
FHSS Mentored Research Conference
The present study used Self-Determination Theory to explore adolescents' motivations to engage in prosocial behaviors (donating and volunteering) and abstain from health-risk behaviors (marijuana use and sexual intercourse). Pearson's r correlations evidenced general motivation schemes (prosocial and abstinence), suggesting that general prosocial motivation will prompt many prosocial behaviors while a general abstinence motivation will discourage many health risk behaviors. Multiple regression analysis, however, indicated that motivation is also behavior specific, meaning that specific behaviors are prompted by specific motivation. These findings help to broaden our understanding of adolescents by revealing two levels of motivation; behavioral and domain.