Motivation During an Excessively Challenging Reading Task: The Buffering Role of Relative Topic Interest

This study explored the influence of an excessively challenging reading task on middle school students’ motivation, attributions for failure, and persistence. In particular, the authors considered the possibility that relative topic interest might function as a buffer against the negative outcomes of excessive challenge. Students ranging from 10 to 14 years of age read a passage that was well beyond their current reading ability under 2 matched experimental conditions: high relative topic interest and low relative topic interest. Higher relative interest in the story topic buffered some of the negative influences of excessive challenge, sustaining interest/enjoyment of the task, and was related to fewer attributions for difficulty to any cause and persistence with the task.