Reading motivation and reading preferences of adolescents
Abstract
The aim of this study was to describe motives that lead adolescents to read, or which make them refuse to read. Furthermore, it aimed to find out potential differences in motivation and reading preferences due to age group. Totally 375 respondents participated in this study from which 130 (34,66%) were readers. Reading motivation was measured by the Motivations for Reading Questionnaire (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997). Motives that lead adolescents to read or which make them refuse to read were detected with open questions. Results show that there are no differences between younger and older adolescents in reading motivation. The most common reading motives in younger readers were: reaching new information from books, opinion, that reading is a funny and interesting activity and reading represents an opportunity to escape from the reality for a while. In the group of older adolescents were most common motives reaching new information, the way how to relax and escape from the reality. Non-reading younger adolescents refuse to read because they are not interested in reading, they consider the book boring and they do not have the will to read. Older adolescents do not read because they consider reading as a boring activity and they do not have enough time for it. The most popular genres among younger readers are the adventurous genre, fantasy, and novels for girls. Older readers prefer the adventurous genre, fantasy, and detective novels.
https://doi.org/10.29364/epsy.390
(Fulltext in Slovak)
Keywords
reading, motivation, genre preferences, younger adolescents, older adolescentsLiterature
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