Factor Structure and Criterion Validity of Potential

Elliot, Murayama, Kobeisy, and Lichtenfeld recently developed a measure to assess students’ self-based potential-approach and potential-avoidance achievement goals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factor structure and criterion validity of this measure based on data obtained from a sample of Hong Kong university students. Results from confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that the bifactor model which comprises a general definition of competence factor and two uncorrelated valence of competence group factors yielded the best fit to the data. All three factors accounted for a significant proportion of the common variance and were found to have high internal consistencies. Structural equation modeling also revealed that the general definition factor and the two valence group factors have differential associations with various criterion outcomes examined