A Prospective Study of the Effects of Learning Motivation on Psychological Adjustment

: A Self-determination Theory Approach

Abstract

　Relationships between learning motivation and psychological adjustment have been suggested by self-determination theory, a broad framework for understanding motivation and well-being. However, there are a few prospective studies which need to examine effects on subjective well-being and mental and physical health, and especially few prospective studies on the effects among Japanese samples. The purpose of this study has been to examine the effects by using a prospective design. 　The participants, 147 college students (62 women and 85 men), participated in two sessions (Time 1 and Time 2) with a four-week interval. At Time 1, the Learning Motivation Scale for Japanese Learners, the Japanese versions of the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the three subscales of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (the Somatization, Depression, and Anxiety) were administered. At Time 2, the scales except the Learning Motivation Scale for Japanese Learners were administered. Questionnaires were anonymously administered by a teacher in the class at both sessions. 　Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the whole motivation had small effects on all the facets of psychological adjustment at Time 2, even after controlling for the facets at Time 1. Although subsequent psychological adjustment was influenced negatively by prior amotivation and positively by prior intrinsic motivation, prior extrinsic motivation had only effects on subsequent life satisfaction and somatization. Both prior controlled regulation and autonomous regulation also had effects on most of the facets of subsequent psychological adjustment. Introjected regulation and identified regulation had little effects of subsequent psychological adjustment.