Daily Fluctuations in Motivation: A Longitudinal Diary Study over an Entire Semester at University

Abstract

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are related to learning success and academic achievement of university students. Process models of self-regulated learning (SRL) suggest that daily academic motivation is affected by study satisfaction on the previous day. In this study, we conducted a secondary analysis of the data by Liborius et al. (2019), in which the study behavior of a total of 105 students was surveyed daily over 154 days (including both the lecture period and non-lecture period). We tested a mediation model, assuming that SRL components (planning, self-efficacy, time investment, concentration, effort, and procrastination) increase intrinsic motivation and decrease extrinsic motivation on the next day through their effects on study satisfaction. The results showed the proposed mediation effects for all predictors except for planning. The study underlined the importance of investigating SRL and motivation on a daily level. Further, we showed that effects can vary between the lecture period and non-lecture period.