An Investigation of the Relationship between Students' Motivation and Academic Performance as Mediated by Effort
- 1 September 2011
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in South African Journal of Psychology
- Vol. 41 (3), 373-385
- https://doi.org/10.1177/008124631104100311
Abstract
This study investigated the relationship between university students' motivation and their academic performance, with effort acting as a mediating variable. The study strives to add to the body of knowledge on motivation, effort and academic performance, with specific reference to tertiary level institutions in the South African context. Motivation is separated into intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation, which were used as the independent variables. Academic performance is the dependent variable, which was measured using the cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA). A quantitative relational design was employed to investigate the degree to which motivation predicts a students' academic performance. The data were collected through an online questionnaire from a convenience sample of 254 commerce faculty students within a university in the Western Cape, ranging from first year to fifth year of study. The empirical results obtained from the data, using the Pearson correlation coefficients, indicated significant relationships between intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and academic performance. Evidence was further found that students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation influenced the amount of effort they exerted in trying to achieve their desired performance outcome. Through the use of Baron and Kenny's procedure to test mediation, effort was found to be a partial mediator of the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and academic performance. Furthermore, a multiple regression analysis of the data indicated that intrinsic motivation is the strongest predictor of academic performance, followed by effort. In the regression model extrinsic motivation could not explain unique variance in academic performance.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- A reputation for success (or failure): The association of peer academic reputations with academic self-concept, effort, and performance across the upper elementary grades.Developmental Psychology, 2008
- Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons From the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities About “What Works” in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning ContextsEducational Psychologist, 2007
- Students' Perceptions of Rewards for Academic Performance by Parents and Teachers: Relations With Achievement and Motivation in CollegeThe Journal of Genetic Psychology, 2006
- Exploring Resiliency: Academic Achievement among Disadvantaged Black Youth in South AfricaSouth African Journal of Psychology, 2005
- Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis.Journal of Educational Psychology, 1999
- Approach and avoidance achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A mediational analysis.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1996
- Effects of Improving the Reliability of the GPA on Prediction Generally and on Comparative Predictions for Gender and Race ParticularlyJournal of Educational Measurement, 1988
- The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1986
- Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human BehaviorPublished by Springer Science and Business Media LLC ,1985
- Process AnalysisEvaluation Review, 1981