Caroline Senécal

The Academic Motivation Scale: A Measure of Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Amotivation in Education

A new measure of motivation toward education has been developed in French, namely the Echelle de Motivation en Education (EME). The EME is based on the tenets of self-determination theory and is composed of 28 items subdivided into seven sub-scales assessing three types of intrinsic motivation (intrinsic motivation to know, to accomplish things, and to experience stimulation), three types of extrinsic motivation (external, introjected, and identified regulation), and a motivation. The purpose of this investigation was to cross-culturally validate in English the EME. The EME was translated in English through appropriate methodological procedures and completed by university students. Results revealed that the English version of the scale renamed the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS), 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. Finally, gender differences obtained with the EME were basically replicated with the AMS. In sum, the present findings provide adequate support for the factorial validity and reliability of the AMS and support its use in educational research on motivation.

Self-Regulation and Academic Procrastination

The role of autonomous self-regulation as a predictor of academic procrastination was assessed. French-Canadian students from a junior college (N = 498) completed the Academic Motivation Scale as well as an academic procrastination scale and other measures (anxiety, self-esteem, and depression) that have been found to be related to fear of failure. Correlation results indicated that students with intrinsic reasons for pursuing academic tasks procrastinated less than those with less autonomous reasons (external regulation and amotivation). Regression results indicated that the measures of depression, self-esteem, and anxiety accounted for 14% of the variance in academic procrastination, whereas the self-regulation variables accounted for 25%. These results support the notion that procrastination is a motivational problem that involves more than poor time management skills or trait laziness.

Motivation and dietary self-care in adults with diabetes: are self-efficacy and autonomous self-regulation complementary or competing constructs?

This study examined constructs drawn from social-cognitive theory (A. Bandura, 1986) and self-determination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985, 1991) in relation to dietary self-care and life satisfaction among 638 individuals with diabetes. A motivational model of diabetes dietary self-care was proposed, which postulates direct links between self-efficacy/autonomous self-regulation, and adherence/ life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling showed that both self-efficacy and autonomous self-regulation were associated with adherence (betas = .54 and .21, respectively) and with life satisfaction (betas = .15 and .34, respectively). Constraint analyses confirmed that self-efficacy was significantly more associated with adherence, whereas autonomous self-regulation was significantly more associated with life satisfaction. According to the model, interventions for dietary self-care and life satisfaction should focus on increasing self-efficacy and autonomous self-regulation.

Adjusting to Job Demands: The Role of Work Self-Determination and Job Control in Predicting Burnout.

This study examined the dynamic interplay among job demands, job control, and work self-determination in order to predict burnout dimensions. A three-way interaction effect was found between job demands, job control and work self-determination in predicting each dimension of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment). Overall, results showed that job control moderates the unhealthy effects of job demands in predicting emotional exhaustion and depersonalization only for employees with high levels of work self-determination. In addition, job control increases the relation between job demands and the sense of personal accomplishment only for employees with high levels of work self-determination. These results are discussed in light of the Job Demand–Control model. 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Predicting Career Indecision: A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of career indecision based on selfdetermination theory (E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan, 1985). This model posits that peer and parental styles predicted career indecision through perceived self-efficacy and autonomy. Participants were 834 college students (236 men, 581 women, 17 without gender identification). Results from structural equation modeling provided support for the proposed model and showed that the model was invariant across gender. Discussion centers on the theoretical and practical implications of the results. Career indecision has been a focus of vocational research over the last few decades. It is defined as an inability to make a decision about the vocation one wishes to pursue. Career indecision has been related empirically to various intraindividual constructs. For example, personality traits such as perfectionism, selfconsciousness, fear of commitment (Leong & Chervinko, 1996), and anxiety (Fuqua, Newman, & Seaworth, 1988) were positively associated with career indecision. In contrast, rational decisionmaking style (Mau, 1995), self-efficacy beliefs (Betz & Luzzo, 1996), and level of ego identity (Cohen, Chartrand, & Jowdy, 1995) were negatively related to career indecision. Moreover, research has drawn attention to the interpersonal factors related to career indecision. For instance, positive family and peer interactions (e.g., Felsman & Blustein, 1999; Guerra & Braungart-Rieker, 1999) have been negatively related to career indecision. However, little is known about how intraindividual and interpersonal factors interact to produce career indecision. That is, how do contextual factors such as parents and peers affect career indecision? What psychological processes are involved? A potentially useful theoretical framework for understanding these critical questions in career indecision research is self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000). Specifically, SDT focuses on the social– contextual conditions that facilitate the natural processes of self-motivation and healthy psychological functioning. The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of career indecision based on SDT. This model posits that interactions with parents and peers predict career indecision through perceived competence and autonomy. The model proposed and tested in this study contributes to the existing vocational literature in three important ways. First, although some research has provided support for the relation between family environment and career indecision, little is known about the processes that may mediate this relation. Second, to the best of our knowledge, few studies have assessed the role of peers in the prediction of career indecision. Testing such a relation is important because some work reveals that peers have an important impact on psychosocial adjustment (Harter, 1999; Hartup & Stevens, 1997; Mounts & Steinberg, 1995). Third, some studies focusing on career indecision are not based on a theoretical framework. In contrast to some of these studies, the proposed model is based on a well-known theoretical framework, which has been the object of considerable research (see Deci & Ryan, 1985; Ryan & Deci, 2000; Vallerand, 1997, for literature reviews). We present a brief overview of SDT and evidence in support of the proposed model.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Work-Family Conflict: Toward a Motivational Model

The purpose of the present study was to propose and test a model of work-family conflict based on Self-Determination Theory and the Hierarchical Model of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. The model posits that positive interpersonal factors both at work (i.e., one’s employer) and at home (e.g., one’s spouse) influence work and family motivation. Moreover, the model proposes that low levels of self-determined family and work motivation both contribute to family alienation, which in turn influences the experience of work-family conflict. Finally, work-family conflict leads to feelings of emotional exhaustion. Results from structural equation modeling supported the model. Although the model was supported for both men and women, some sex differences were uncovered at the mean level. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.

Distinguishing Developmental From Chronic Career Indecision: Self-Efficacy, Autonomy, and Social Support:

Career indecision can be divided into two categories: developmental and chronic indecision. The former is generally viewed as a developmentally normal problem resulting from a lack of information on the self and on the world of work, whereas the latter is defined as a pervasive inability to make a decision about one’s career. The goals of the present study were to test the validity of this typology of career indecision and to explain these types of indecision as a function of self-efficacy, autonomy, and support from parents and friends. Based on a 3-year longitudinal design with college students (N = 325), results provided validity for this typology by revealing the presence of two indecision groups (chronically undecided and developmentally undecided) and a group of students who are decided. In addition, results indicated that self-efficacy and autonomy are important dimensions that make it possible to distinguish between these three groups.

Family Correlates of Trajectories of Academic Motivation During a School Transition: A Semiparametric Group-Based Approach

The present study examined whether academic motivations, conceptualized from the stance of self-determination theory, fluctuate over time in a homogeneous or heterogeneous fashion during a school transition. Three objectives were pursued: First, motivational trajectories were studied using the conventional, homogeneous approach. Second, the group-based, semiparametric approach to developmental trajectories was used to study heterogeneous motivational trajectories. Third, family factors were compared across trajectory groups for each type of motivation. Results suggested that most types of motivation tend to fluctuate differently over time for distinct groups of individuals. Furthermore, students characterized by problematic motivational trajectories perceived their parents to be less involved in their scholastic work and less autonomy supportive than those of other students. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for research and theories on motivation and parenting.

Effects of gender, age, and diabetes duration on dietary self-care in adolescents with type 1 diabetes: A Self-Determination Theory perspective

This study tests a model derived from Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci and Ryan, 2000) to explain the mechanisms by which non-modifiable factors influence dietary self-care in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (n = 289). SEM analyses adjusted for HbA1c levels revealed that longer diabetes duration and female gender were indicative of poorer dietary self-care. This effect was mediated by contextual and motivational factors as posited by SDT. Poorer autonomy support from practitioners was predominant in girls with longer diabetes duration. Perceived autonomous motivation and self-efficacy were indicative of greater autonomy support, and led to better dietary self-care.

Longitudinal relations among perceived autonomy support from health care practitioners, motivation, coping strategies and dietary compliance in a sample of adults with type 2 diabetes.

The purpose of this study was to test the causal ordering among perceived autonomy support from health care practitioners, motivation, coping strategies and compliance to dietary self-care activities. Using a cross-lagged panel model, we investigate how these variables relate to one another over a one-year period. A total of 365 adults with Type 2 diabetes participated in the study. Results suggest that autonomous motivation and active planning are reciprocally related over time, and that prior autonomous motivation is related to the extent participants subsequently comply with their diet. Results are discussed in light of Self-determination Theory and the coping perspective.