A desire to be perceived positively: Approval motivation in School Children
Keywords:
approval motivation, body mass index, school children, nutritional status, underweight, obesityAbstract
Aims
1) To assess the degree of approval motivation in school children using a standardised scale and assess the impact of age, gender, and Body Mass Index (BMI).
2) To plan intervention programs in schools to develop self-motivation to reduce dependence on approval from others.
Methodology
Study design – Cross sectional study in school children
Sample selection – Convenience sampling was employed. All 712 children studying in 8th and 9th std. allotted by the principal were included in the study. There were no exclusion criteria.
Study duration – July 2017. Data was collected in a single day, onsite in the classroom; statistical analysis was completed in the same month.
Sample: The sample comprised 712 school children from 8th and 9th std. from two English medium HSE Co-ed schools in Delhi, India. The students were divided into two groups– Group I (10–14 yrs.) and Group II (15–18 yrs.) To encourage honest answers, no names were asked except for participants’ age and gender and demographic details.
Consent: Consent was obtained from school principals who then obtained consent from parents. Written assent was obtained from students in the form.
Ethical clearance: Ethics approval was obtained from AACCI Institutional ethics committee.
Data collection: The third author trained the teachers to get the proforma made for this project, including the MLAMS scale. Demographic details like age, gender, and number of siblings were collected. Height and weight were asked to calculate the BMI.
Statistical analysis: Conducted using SPSS version 17.
Tool used: We used the Martin-Larsen Approval Motivation Scale (MLAMS). This 5-point Likert-type scale has 20 items (6 items-reverse scorings), with a Mean of 53.6 and SD of 9.02. Higher scores indicate more need for social approval. Reliability index (Cronbach alpha coefficient) is 0.75; the Test-retest reliability coefficient is 0.72.
Results
Regarding the degree of approval motivation, in the total sample, approval motivation scores were higher in girls from Group II (60.49 vs 57.76; p=0.010). Between schools, Group I boys from School 1 had higher scores (59.14 vs 54.40; p=0.008) In children with no siblings, in the total sample, higher scores were seen in Group II girls (59.67 vs 55.72; p=0.008). Regarding the relationship between approval motivation scores of age groups within the same BMI category, for normal-weight children, Group I scored more than Group II (59.71 vs 56.67; p=0.019). On comparing schools, underweight children from Group II in school 1 had higher scores than children in school 2 (60.72 vs 55.71; p=0.009).
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