Recording Test Motivation

COMET test practice suggests that test motivation should be considered as a contextual variable in longitudinal studies and that test takers should be asked about this after completing the tests. In the items for recording the test motivation of the subjects, a distinction is made between the primary motivational aspects in the test motivation (job relevance and usefulness of the test tasks as well as interest in completing the test) and the secondary motivational aspects (concentration, toil, tidiness, and effort in completing the tasks). The primary motivation aspects represent the assessment of the test tasks as relevant for vocational training, without this already being associated with the willingness to make an effort in completing the test tasks. The secondary motivation aspects result from the primary motivation dimension. The four secondary motivational aspects represent different subaspects of the willingness to exert effort. Looking at the content dimension of the two motivational factors, it seems reasonable to assume that meaningfulness functions as the primary motivational dimension and investment as the secondary motivational dimension. Based on the result of an exploratory factor analysis conducted, it was investigated whether the two motivation dimensions make an explanatory contribution to COMET test performance measured as total score. The results of the analysis indicate that investment fully mediates the relationship between meaningfulness and performance. This means that individuals who see more meaning in the COMET test process invest more and thus perform better. Thus, meaningfulness can be confirmed as a primary motivation and investment as a secondary motivation.