Centre for Financial Innovation

Does excellence matter?

The influence of potential for excellence on students’ motivation for specific collaborative tasks.

Article

It is often assumed that students with a higher potential for excellence are less motivated to collaborate. So far, the question remains whether this is actually the case. 

This survey study investigated the influence of business students’ (N = 389) potential for excellence on their motivation to collaborate on a business-related task. Different aspects of potential for excellence were taken into account, including intelligence, creativity, first-year grade point average (GPA), and personality. A structural equation modeling analysis was applied. The findings demonstrated that only GPA had a negative influence on students’ collaborative values, indicating that the assumption that students with a higher potential for excellence are less motivated to collaborate receives limited support. In addition, the findings showed that different aspects of potential for excellence were related to different aspects of motivation to collaborate. This indicates that the relationship between potential for excellence and motivation is more complex than often considered.

Reference Pullen, A. G., Griffioen, D. M. E., Schoonenboom, J., de Koning, B. B., & Beishuizen, J. J. (2018). Does excellence matter? The influence of potential for excellence on students’ motivation for specific collaborative tasks. Studies in Higher Education, 43(11), 2059-2071. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1304376
Published by  Higher Education, Research and Innovation 1 January 2018

Publication date

Jan 2018

Author(s)

Annedien G. Pullen
Judith Schoonenboom
Björn B. de Koning
Jos J. Beishuizen

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Research database