Running head: SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 1

Self Efficacy and Academic Motivation

in Female University Students; A Correlation Study

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

efficacy is an important determinant of student motivation. This research determines the

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

which we attempt to correlate with Academic Motivation subscales intrinsic motivation,

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

correlation with self efficacy.

Keywords: Correlation, Self Efficacy, Academic Motivation, Albert Bandura, Introjected,

Amotivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 3

Self Efficacy and Academic Motivation

in Female University Students; A Correlation Study

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).

Four primary sources of self efficacy have been studied

(A) Enactive mastery experiences (Actual performances)

(B) Observation of others (Vicarious experiences)

(C) Forms of persuasions, both verbal and otherwise

(D) “Physiological and effective states from which people partly judge their capableness,

strength and vulnerability to dysfunction (Bandura, 1997).

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

motivation is discussed in terms of self efficacy, an individual’s judgment of his or her

capabilities to perform given actions (Schunk, 1991).

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

with their educational experience (Moen and Doyle, 1978).

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

self efficacy this is incorporated by academic motivation.

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 5

Bissonnette (1992) defined seven specific subtypes of academic motivation:

 Three types of Intrinsic Motivation (To know, Toward Accomplishment, to experience

stimulation).

 Three types of Extrinsic Motivation (Identified, Introjected, External Regulation)

 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

intrinsically motivated persist longer, conquer more challenges, and demonstrate

accomplishments in their academic endeavors than those who are extrinsically motivated

(Pintrich & Garcia, 1991).

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 6

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

do not easily give up when confronted with difficulties (Ersanla, 2015).

So, the researches notably point to existence of a correlation between academic motivation and

self efficacy which also support our hypotheses being:

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

research. All participants were between the ages of 18 – 23.

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).

Observably, the scores of Amotivation were the lowest (r = - 0.35).

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 8

Table 1. Showing the correlation scores of Extrinsic Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation and

Amotivation.

Column1 Column2
(Subscales) (Correlation Score)

Intrinsic Motivation 0.18

Extrinsic Motivation 0.07

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

of the given literature review.

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

difference observed in the correlation score of extrinsic motivation subscale (r = 0.07).

Extrinsically motivated students tend to focus on earning higher grades, obtaining rewards and

acceptance from peers. Researchers, for example, Biehler & Snowman, (1990) believe that

extrinsic motivational factors diminish students' intrinsic motivation. Students' extrinsic

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 9

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

motivation and help boost the score of Extrinsic items.

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”,

“Communicating my ideas to others” and “Pleasure in surpassing myself in my studies”.

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

motivation: to know, to experience stimulation, and to accomplish things. Intrinsic motivation to

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

resulting in a negative correlation.

SELF EFFICACY AND ACADEMIC MOTIVATION CORRELATION 10

The statements of intrinsic motivation subscale were centered solely on personal

experience and were dynamic due to which the participants may feel a sense of achievement

while answering them.

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

amotivation is a state of lacking any motivation to engage in an activity, characterized by a lack

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

makes the result difficult to generalize.

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

findings contribute to the existing literature.

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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