1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The purpose of the present study was [...] to test potential causal effects among representations of relatedness (i.e. a specific component of the quality of relationships) with parents and friends and a specific indicator of academic motivation, namely autonomous academic motivation.» (p.622)
Questions/Hypothèses :
«The aim of this study was to answer the following questions: Does autonomous motivation drive representations of relatedness, do representations of relatedness drive autonomous motivation, or are these constructs reciprocally related overtime?» (p.621)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
834 étudiants de niveau collégial au Québec

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«The literature on the determinants of academic motivation indicates that social and affective processes connected to students’ interpersonal relationships are central elements in understanding students’ academic motivation and other school-related outcomes. [...] Results from the structural equation models provided good support for the effect of representations of relatedness with parents on autonomous academic motivation but no convincing support for the effect of motivation on representations of relatedness with parents. In addition, no significant effect in either direction was found between representations of relatedness with friends and autonomous academic motivation. [...] It might be important to inform parents that they may still have an influence on their adolescent’s representations of relatedness and subsequently on his/her autonomous academic motivation even during the late adolescence – early adulthood period, a period when some parents may be tempted to believe that they can do little to motivate their offspring.» (p.621)