Hope, childhood experiences, and achievement motivation in high school students: A mixed methods study

The aim of the study is to examine the role of childhood experiences and achievement motivation in high school students' hope levels. The quantitative (N = 686, 43.9% females and 56.1% males, aged between 13 and 19; Mage = 16.02, standard deviation = 1.23) and qualitative data of the study, in which enriched design was used, were collected from high school students studying in the Southeast of Turkey. Hierarchical regression was used in the quantitative part of the study and content analysis was carried out in the qualitative part. It is seen that the results in the qualitative analysis part largely coincide with the results in the quantitative part. The results denote that high school students have high hope levels. Also, according to the results, there is a negative, low-level, and significant relationship between childhood experiences and hope, and a positive and moderately significant relationship between hope and achievement motivation. Although childhood experiences and achievement motivation significantly predict the level of hope, it is concluded that achievement motivation contributes more to the hope-related variance which is explained. The findings reveal the value of achievement motivation and childhood experiences in understanding adolescents' hope multidimensionally. Childhood experiences and achievement motivation significantly predict adolescents' hope.It has been concluded that negative experiences do not affect the level of hope in adolescents who predominantly remember these experiences from childhood.Hope in adolescents is more related to achievement motivation, which is a goal-oriented and individual trait, than to childhood experiences.