Doing well or doing better than others? A contribution to the Italian validation of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire

This study presents the Italian adaptation and validation of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire (AGQ) by Elliot and Mc Gregor (2001). Developed within the 2 X 2 achievement goals framework, the instrument captures four types of academic achievement goals based on the type (mastery vs. performance) and the orientation (approach vs. avoidance) of the goal. Method: in Study 1, the AGQ was translated and administered to a sample of 98 undergraduate students for pilot psychometric testing based on exploratory factor analysis. In Study 2, the AGQ was administered to an independent sample of 198 participants, and confirmatory factor analyses were carried out to verify the robustness of the hypothesized factorial structure. Results: Combined results of the two studies indicate that the Italian version of the AGQ has robust metric properties. Minor criticisms in the formulation of one item assessing performance-avoidance goals do not reduce the overall performance of the instrument. Moreover, Study 2 also provides evidence that the hypothesized 2 X 2 model fits the data better than other alternative models, either simpler (i.e., a three-factors model based on earlier achievement goals literature) or more complex (i.e., hierarchical models with second-order factors). Conclusions: In sum, results indicate that the Italian version of the AGQ is a reliable and valid instrument for basic and applied research in psychology and education.