Motivation, Procrastination and Environmentally-oriented Predictors of Alienation from School

School alienation is characterized by a gradual process of students´ distraction from scholastic goals (Legault, Green-Demers & Pelletier, 2006). It is the opposite of school integration from which students derive positive attitudes and responses such as the desire to be a good student or the identification with school. School alienation develops gradually: School students, in particular boys, may develop negative attitudes towards school that can lead to school alienation and eventually to dropout (Hascher & Hagenauer, 2010). Individual as well as contextual factors contribute to the development of school alienation. Thus, there is the need to investigate factors of special relevance to students´ alienation from school by employing a multilevel approach. In spring 2012, 916 Austrian students in two schools differentiating in students´ anticipated achievement levels from grades 5 to 7 responded to questionnaires. The results confirm the predictive value of motivation regulation, procrastinating attitudes towards learning, social integration and teachers´ care as well as the specific high prevalence of school alienation among male school students in lower school tracks. Since school alienation occurs among all investigated student groups, prevention and intervention strategies should not be restricted to the male subgroup.