Educational Attainment, Literacy Skills, Nativity, and Motivation to Learn Among Middle-Aged Adults in the United States

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Sahoo education literacy nativity and MtL (1) (1) (1).pdf (433.29 KB)

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10451595211048554

Permanent Link

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F10451595211048554
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/24020

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UMBC Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health Department

Author/Creator

Author/Creator ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-6712
 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1047-6825
 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2325-126X

Date

2021-12-04

Type of Work

journal articles
postprints
Text

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Program

Citation of Original Publication

Millar, Roberto J. et al. Literacy skills, language use, and online health information seeking among Hispanic adults in the United States. Patient Education and Counseling 103 (Aug. 2020), 103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.02.030

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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

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Abstract

Research on factors associated with motivation to learn (MtL) is limited, particularly among middle-aged adults and immigrants. This study examines educational attainment, literacy skills, and nativity (foreignborn vs. native-born) as predictors of MtL in middleaged adults living in the United States. Nationally representative data of middle-aged adults between the ages of 40 and 65 years were obtained from the 2012/2014 Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Structural equation models were used to assess the validity of the latent MtL construct and to examine the associations with the selected determinants in middle-aged adults. Postsecondary education degrees and higher literacy skills were linked with greater MtL. However, foreign-born individuals had lower MtL than their US-born counterparts. Educators and researchers should be aware of lower educational attainment, limited literacy skills, and being an immigrant as possible demoting factors of MtL, and in turn, barriers to lifelong learning participation among middleaged adults.