Week-to-week fluctuations in autonomous study motivation: Links to need fulfillment and affective well-being.

Abstract

Autonomous motivation for self-set goals (pursuing goals for more intrinsic and less extrinsic reasons) has been linked to affective well-being. Using intensive longitudinal data, the present article examines the link between university students' autonomous study motivation with affective well-being and targets fulfillment of the basic psychological needs as a potential mediating factor of this association on the within-person and the between-person level. University students in Germany (N = 488) completed an online questionnaire once a week over up to two semesters, indicating their weekly study motivation, need fulfillment, and affective well-being. Multilevel structural equation models were employed to target (a) the structure of autonomous study motivation and (b) the associations of autonomous study motivation with need fulfillment and affective well-being. Autonomous study motivation was associated with students' positive and negative affect on both levels. In line with predictions by self-determination theory, multilevel mediation models suggested indirect effects via need fulfillment on both levels. Results highlight the central role of autonomous study motivation and need fulfillment in university students' socioemotional adjustment. A better understanding of this socioemotional adjustment of university students may be an important step for increasing overall study satisfaction and developing interventions to reduce study dropout. Educational Impact and Implications StatementThe reasons why students pursue their studies have been suggested to directly affect students' fulfillment of their basic psychological needs which in turn affects well-being. Results of this study are in line with this assertion and highlight that the reasons for pursuing one's studies may be crucial to better understand students' socioemotional adjustment. This is an important step toward maintaining and improving student mental health and developing interventions to reduce dropout and promote educational success in higher education.

Why we do what we do matters for how we feel: Links among autonomous goal regulation, need fulfillment, and well-being in daily life

“…Taken together, prior empirical research has consistently reported positive associations among RAI, need fulfillment and well-being on the level of between-person differences (e.g., higher need fulfillment in individuals with higher RAI), and on the level of within-person differences (e.g., higher need fulfillment at occasions with higher RAI; e.g., Skhirtladze et al, 2019;Sosin et al, 2023). In addition, RAI has been shown to differ substantially within individuals across different goals (e.g., Werner et al, 2016).…”

“…Additionally, a number of studies have reported positive links between need fulfillment and well-being indicators (e.g., Campbell et al, 2018;Reis et al, 2000;Sosin et al, 2023). For example, individuals reported higher levels of positive mood than on average on day when they reported higher levels of need satisfaction (e.g., .…”

“…For example, individuals reported higher levels of positive mood than on average on day when they reported higher levels of need satisfaction (e.g., . Moreover, need frustration was associated with negative outcomes on the within-person level (Campbell et al, 2018;Sosin et al, 2023). For example, individuals reported higher levels of negative affect than on average when reporting higher levels of need frustration (e.g., Sosin et al, 2023).…”

“…Moreover, need frustration was associated with negative outcomes on the within-person level (Campbell et al, 2018;Sosin et al, 2023). For example, individuals reported higher levels of negative affect than on average when reporting higher levels of need frustration (e.g., Sosin et al, 2023).…”

“…Last, as in cross-sectional studies, there has been some inconsistency in the assumed direction of the effect between autonomous motivation and need fulfilment. For example, Sosin et al (2023) used data from a longitudinal study in which German university students reported their RAI for study related tasks, need fulfillment, and affective well-being weekly over a 15 -30 week period. Results were in line with the idea that the link between RAI for study related tasks and well-being is mediated by need fulfillment on the within-and the between-person level: Students who reported a higher RAI for study related tasks across these weeks in general also reported higher need fulfillment than students with a lower RAI.…”