Measuring Internet-Specific Reading Motivation and Engagement in an Academic Domain

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a new measure of motivation and engagement when reading for academic purposes on the Internet. Confirmatory factor analysis of the scores of 386 Norwegian pre-service teachers showed that a seven-factor model including the positive reading motivation and engagement constructs of intrinsic reading motivation, perceived competence in reading, valuing of reading, and dedication to reading, as well as the negative reading motivation and engagement constructs of perceived difficulty of reading, devaluing of reading, and avoidance of reading, fit the data well. Moreover, regression analyses showed that these reading motivation and engagement constructs contributed to time spent on the Internet for academic purposes and academic achievement over and above gender, educational level, teaching practice, and total time spent on the Internet. Taken together, these findings provide preliminary evidence for the construct validity of the measure. The discussion highlights how this measure may be used in future research on the roles of reading motivation and engagement in Internet reading contexts.