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U.S. Students' Academic Interests Tend to Wane in Middle School

"This may be because in China, a higher priority is placed on learning because it is seen as a key to future success and is considered a moral undertaking," study lead author Qian Wang, an assistant professor of psychology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said in a news release from the Society for Research in Child Development.

The researchers also found that both American and Chinese students became less concerned with mastering schoolwork as they moved through middle school.

"This decline in both countries may reflect a poor fit between children's developing psychological needs and school settings," Wang said.

The study appears in the July/August issue of the journal Child Development.

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