Students’ Relationships with Their Teachers and Motivation toward the Formation and Maintenance of the Relationship with Teachers

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the factors contributing to motivation toward forming and maintaining the relationship with teachers by investigating the relationship between students' relationships with their teachers and motivation toward the formation and maintenance of the relationship with teachers based on the self-determination theory. Junior high school students (N＝483) completed a questionnaire. The results were as follows: (a) “Experience of being accepted by teachers” and “experience of close relationships with teachers” were positively correlated with autonomous motivation. (b) “Experience of being hurt by teachers” was positively correlated with controlled motivation. And, (c) correlations differed with respect to the students’ gender and grade level.