Smothering or smouldering : the dark-side of motivation in indigenous Australian students

![CDATA[Research is increasingly showing that secondary students' academic self-concept and notions of academic mastery are viable targets for effective intervention that will ultimately lead to stronger performances within the schooling system (McInerney, 2003; Marsh & Craven, 1997). Indeed, more recent research has established that for Indigenous Australian secondary students, psychological constructs such as academic self-concept are significantly weaker when compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts (Craven & Marsh, 2004), further emphasising the importance of interventions that potentially address Indigenous inequities within the education system. Little research, though, has sought to link what relations positive psychological constructs may have with more maladaptive motivational cognitions and behaviours that have traditionally had strong negative relations with academic outcomes. As a result, this study examined what relations exist between Indigenous secondary students' academic self-concept and mastery with academic anxiety, uncertain control, self-sabotage and disengagement. What is more, considering the growing recognition of the negative and complicated effects discrimination has had on Indigenous Australians in their daily lives, a moderating analysis was conducted to examine how perceived discrimination may influence the relations between these constructs. The results suggest that although intuitively academic self-concept and mastery may be powerful tools in extinguishing more negative motivational tendencies, experiences of discrimination may weaken the positive effects associated with Indigenous students' academic self-concept. The implications for schooling and teacher interventions are discussed.]]