Pathways to Student Motivation: A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents of Autonomous and Controlled Motivations
2021/09/11 by Julien S. Bureau, Joshua L. Howard, Jane X. Y. Chong +2 · 6 citations
Psychology · #Education, Achievement, and Giftedness #Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports #Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies
paper · doi:10.3102/00346543211042426
openalex publication_date 2021/09/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract
Students' self-determined motivation (acting out of interest, curiosity, and abiding values) is associated with higher academic well-being, persistence, and achievement. Self-determination theory posits that self-determined motivation is dependent on the satisfaction of three psychological needs (relatedness, competence, and autonomy), which are in turn facilitated through need-supportive behaviors from notable others. In this meta-analysis, conducted over 144 studies and more than 79,000 students, we sought to overview pathways to student motivation in order to verify (1) how do psychological needs rank in the strength of their prediction of self-determined motivation and (2) which autonomy-support providers (parents or teachers) are the most relevant for psychological need satisfaction in students and self-determined motivation. Results show that teacher autonomy support predicts students' need satisfaction and self-determined motivation more strongly than parental autonomy support. In addition, competence is the most positive predictor of self-determined motivation, followed by autonomy and then by relatedness.
Citations
- Facilitating Internalization: The Self‐Determination Theory Perspective
- The Academic Motivation Scale: A Measure of Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Amotivation in Education
- What teachers say and do to support students' autonomy during a learning activity.
- Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.
- Motivation Interventions in Education
- A Review of Self-Determination Theory’s Basic Psychological Needs at Work
- The Power of Feedback
- Testing a continuum structure of self-determined motivation: A meta-analysis.
- Toward an integrative and fine-grained insight in motivating and demotivating teaching styles: The merits of a circumplex approach.
- Expanding autonomy psychological need states from two (satisfaction, frustration) to three (dissatisfaction): A classroom-based intervention study.
- Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness
- Basic psychological need theory: Advancements, critical themes, and future directions
- The Power of Feedback Revisited: A Meta-Analysis of Educational Feedback Research
- Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation from a self-determination theory perspective: Definitions, theory, practices, and future directions
- Autonomy-supportive teaching: Its malleability, benefits, and potential to improve educational practice
- Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.
Cited by
Related