Does motivation mean the same for everyone? Exploring factor structure and gender invariance of the academic motivation scale in Indonesian student samples

This study examined the factor structure and gender invariance of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) in Indonesian high school students. Given the importance of academic motivation for educational engagement and outcomes, the study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of an Indonesian adaptation of the AMS in a secondary education context. Participants were 473 high school students from the Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province who completed the scale voluntarily. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to compare alternative measurement models, and the results indicated that a seven-correlated factor model provided the best fit to the data, supporting the multidimensional structure proposed by Self-Determination Theory. Item-level measurement equivalence was further examined using differential item functioning (DIF) analysis. The finding showed several items exhibited significant gender-related DIF, suggesting that boys and girls may interpret specific motivational statements differently. Overall, the findings support the use of the Indonesian AMS for research and group-level assessment and underscore the importance of culturally and gender-sensitive measurement in academic motivation research.