Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Rimsha Khan
Uzma Amin
Shiza Ali
Department of Psychology
University Of Karachi
SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 2
Abstract
Several researches have studied the relation between self efficacy and academic motivation. Self
correlation between self efficacy and academic motivation in female undergraduate students. The
study was conducted in University of Karachi on 150 female participants; the method of random
sampling was used. Albert Bandura’s self efficacy concept is the considered base of the study
Extrinsic Motivation and Amotivation. The study works on three hypotheses; 1) there will be a
correlation between self efficacy and academic motivation in female university students. 2) The
correlation of intrinsic motivation will be higher than extrinsic motivation. 3) The items of
Amotivation will negatively correlate with self efficacy. The subscales scores of academic
motivation are calculated to determine the role of each collective element in student motivation.
The current research not only draws a parallel between self efficacy and the components of
academic motivation but also reasons as to why the factor of amotivation was negative in
Introduction
Self efficacy and academic motivation are two widely studied facts. The concept of self efficacy
is defined as peoples judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action
required to attain designated types of performances (Bandura, 1986). People who have a low
sense of efficacy for accomplishing a task may avoid it; those who believe they are capable
should participate readily. Individuals who feel efficacious tend to work harder and persist longer
when they encounter difficulties than those who doubt their capabilities (Bandura, 1977).
An individual’s own performances offer the most reliable guides for assessing efficacy (Bandura,
1986).
(D) “Physiological and effective states from which people partly judge their capableness,
Bandura’s self efficacy concept is the highlight of this article. The concept becomes more
significant when we talk about academic motivation and self efficacy simultaneously because
SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 4
without self efficacy academic motivation is not enough for an individual’s excellent
performance. Since, both are driving forces that make people pursue a goal and overcome
obstacles. Students with high sense of efficacy have the capacity to accept more challenging
tasks, higher abilities to organize their time, increased persistence in the face of obstacles, exhibit
lower anxiety levels, show flexibility in the use of learning strategies and have a high ability to
adapt with different educational environment (Elmotaleb and Sahalof, 2013). Academic
Academic motivation is defined by a student’s desire (as reflected in approach, persistence, and
level of interest regarding academic subjects when the student’s competence is judged against a
standard of performance or excellence (Mc Clelland, et al., 1953). The kind of things students
want or need, the extent to which they like or dislike certain aspects of college, and the
attractiveness of competing activities all influence which schools, program majors, courses, and
teacher students will choose. Such factors also influence how hard students will work in school,
how easily they will be able to learn, how well they will perform, and how satisfied they will be
Self efficacy is a key mechanism in the framework of social cognitive theory however
motivation is a broader term. It is studied as both a personal and environmental variable. This
research studies academic motivation; a characteristic of motivation along with the concept of
stimulation).
Amotivation.
Intrinsic Motivation actions and thoughts are brought forth voluntarily with awareness of
no external gain or reward; they are behavior performed strictly for the pleasure of the behavior
(Vallerand and Bissonnette, 1992). Intrinsic motivation to know indicates motivation out of the
satisfaction from learning new material. Intrinsic motivation toward accomplishment indicates
motivation out of the enjoyment from achieving something. Intrinsic motivation to experience
stimulation indicates motivation out of desiring both mind and physical sensory stimulations
(Fairchild, Horst, Finney and Barron, 2005). Intrinsically motivated behaviors have been viewed
as those that are engaged in primarily for the pleasure and satisfaction derived from performing
them, whereas extrinsically motivated behaviors are those that are engaged in as a means to an
end (Hayamizu, 1997). Motivation types also affects on the performance of the students. Intrinsic
and extrinsic motivation affects on the achievements and goals of the students performance.
According to Husman and Lens (1999), highly intrinsically motivated students can
simultaneously be extrinsic in terms of future goal orientations. Furthermore, students who are
accomplishments in their academic endeavors than those who are extrinsically motivated
A students level of efficacy impacts the amount of effort and the degree to which he or she will
preserve through a difficult task (Hibbs, 2013). People with higher self efficacy and motivation
So, the researches notably point to existence of a correlation between academic motivation and
H1. There will be a correlation between academic motivation and self efficacy in female
university students.
H2. The correlation of intrinsic motivation with self efficacy will be comparatively higher than
extrinsic motivation.
H3. The items of Amotivation will negatively correlate with self efficacy.
Method
Participants:
150 female participants of University of Karachi were randomly approached for this
Apparatus:
Two scales were used in this research. General self efficacy scale (Schwarzer and
Jerusalem,1995). This scale is a 10 item self-report measure of self efficacy. Internal reliability
for GSE = Cronbach’s alphas between .76 and .90. For validity context The General Self-
Efficacy Scale is correlated to emotion, optimism, and work satisfaction. Negative coefficients
were found for depression, stress, health complaints, burnout, and anxiety.
SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 7
The second scale used was the academic motivation scale (AMS-C 28) college
version (Robert et al., 1992). It is composed of 28 items subdivided into seven sub-scales
assessing three types of intrinsic motivation (to know, to accomplish things, and to experience
stimulation), three types of extrinsic motivation (identified, introjected, and external regulation),
and A motivation. The scale has satisfactory levels of internal consistency (mean alpha value
= .81) and temporal stability over a one-month period (mean test-retest correlation = .79). In
addition, results of a confirmatory factor analysis (LISREL) confirmed the seven-factor structure
of the AMS.
Procedure :
150 females were approached and requested to fill out the scales. Both the scales were
given together. There was no selection criteria used for the participants as we used the method of
random sampling.
Results.
To test our hypotheses, we calculated the data using the Pearson method of correlation. A
correlation was calculated between self efficacy (𝑥 = 28.5) and the subscales of academic
motivation scale; The Intrinsic Motivation (r = 0.18) and Extrinsic Motivation (r = 0.07).
Table 1. Showing the correlation scores of Extrinsic Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation and
Amotivation.
Column1 Column2
(Subscales) (Correlation Score)
Amotivation -0.35
Discussion.
Previous studies have shown that there is indeed a correlation between Self Efficacy and
Academic Motivation. Current established results focus on each and subscale of academic
motivation and correlate it with self efficacy. Our results validate the correlation to with support
Our study focuses on female students and as expected the items of subscale did
correlate with self efficacy to some extent. Intrinsic motivation comparatively showed a stronger
correlation (r = 0.18). This could be due to the items of intrinsic motivation being centered at
internal factors that contribute to academic achievements. Relatively, there was a significant
Extrinsically motivated students tend to focus on earning higher grades, obtaining rewards and
acceptance from peers. Researchers, for example, Biehler & Snowman, (1990) believe that
motivational factors combined with positive future goals can actually facilitate their present
value and intrinsic motivation (Van Calster, Lens, & Nuttin, 1987).
The reason for this could be female students not being much intrigued by external rewards at that
moment, such as a career. However the extrinsic motivation statements which had the word
degree in them had a higher score. This shows that female students were not fascinated by long
term rewards such as a career or a well paying job but getting a degree seemed like there instant
The high correlation score of Intrinsic motivation subscale with self efficacy could be because of
momentary immediate achievements that can motivate our participants, For example the words
used in intrinsic statements were based on self experiences such as “learning new things”,
Intrinsic motivation refers to being in an activity for itself, and the pleasure and satisfaction
derived from participation (Deci, 1975). Academic intrinsic motivation plays a significant role in
achievement, competency and academic learning. Deci and Ryan (1985) posit that intrinsic
motivation stems from the innate psychological needs of competence and self-determination.
Literature suggests intrinsic motivation reveals the presence of three types of intrinsic
know relays to several constructs such as exploration, curiosity, learning goals, intrinsic
intellectuality, and finally intrinsic motivation to learn (Gottfried, 1985; Harter, 1981).
There are many factors that can influence academic motivation other than psychic motivation
such as peer pressure; students who scored high on the items of the extrinsic subscale could have
been influenced by the peers which may have led them to undermine their potentials hence
experience and were dynamic due to which the participants may feel a sense of achievement
The items of amotivation were hypothesized to negatively correlate with self efficacy and
the results supported the outcome. A reason for this development can be that there was a high
score of self efficacy in students which eventually means that amotivation will be low because
of perceived competence or a failure to value the activity or its outcomes. The students could
have also scored less in this element to reduce any researcher biasness.
One notable limitation of the study is gender, since our research is gender based the
scores on internal factors were relatively high as compared to extrinsic factors. The female
participants seemed more focused towards short term self paced goals as compared long term
broader achievements. The correlation scores would have been entirely different if male
population would have also been a part of it. Another limitation is the attentiveness factor; since
the students were approached randomly they weren’t mentally prepared for the task, some
students might constantly thinking when and where their next class is going to be or where to
meet their friends while filling the questionnaire. Our sample was of 150 participants which
Conclusion:
So, considering our results of 150 female students it was proven that the correlation in
intrinsic factor of academic motivation with self efficacy will be higher than extrinsic factors and
SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 11
amotivation calculated as negative in correlation. Our findings support the hypotheses and our
Scatter plot demonstrating correlation results of academic motivation subscales with self efficacy.
0.3
0.2 Intrinisc
Motivation, 0.18
maximum Leval of Correlation
0.1 Extrinisc
Motivation, 0.07
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Series1
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
Amottivation,
-0.35
-0.4
Subscales correlation with self efficacy highest to low
SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 12
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