Motivational style and interest in tasks: Self-determination theory

Abstract

The purposes of the present study, which was conceptualized within the framework of self-determination theory, were to describe individuals' motivation in terms of their motivational style, and to examine differences in interest in tasks among people with different motivational styles in an actual task-solving setting. In Study 1, data from a newly developed questionnaire that measured the academic motivation of university students were used to identify 4 motivational styles: high motivation, autonomous, introjected-external, and low motivation. In Study 2, the effect of motivational style on interest in tasks was examined experimentally, which has not been done commonly in previously published research. Participants were 100 university students (36 men, 64 women). In a non-controlling instruction condition, after solving tasks, the interest scores of participants with an introjected-external style were lower than those with a high motivation style. Additionally, anxiety-compelled scores in task-solving among participants with high motivation and introjected-external styles were higher than those of participants with low motivation style.