Information Seeking Motivation Scale development: a self-determination perspective
ISSN: 0022-0418
Article publication date: 4 October 2017
Issue publication date: 12 October 2017
Abstract
Purpose
Using self-determination motivation theory as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this paper is to examine information seeking motivation at the domain level in higher education setting.
Design/methodology/approach
Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the Information Seeking Motivation Scale – College Version (ISMS – C).
Findings
ISMS – C was validated in the information seeking context. Consistent with self-determination theory (SDT), the results imply that students approach research tasks for both controlled and autonomous reasons.
Research limitations/implications
All constructs representing extrinsic and intrinsic motivation on a continuum were confirmed. However, amotivation proved difficult to define with the current sample. Additional studies need to be conducted in higher education setting in order to confirm its existence.
Practical implications
Given that the situational motivation is contingent on domain-level motivation, the ISMS – C scale can be helpful in promoting lasting intrinsic information seeking motivation at that level.
Originality/value
Consistent with the subjectivist orientation in information sciences which aims to account for cognitive and affective forces behind information need, ISMS constructed in the current study is one of the first measurement instruments to account for a spectrum of information seeking motivations at the domain level.
Keywords
Citation
Dubnjakovic, A. (2017), "Information Seeking Motivation Scale development: a self-determination perspective", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 73 No. 5, pp. 1034-1052. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-03-2017-0032
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited