The Relationship between Intrinsic Motivation and Academic Flow among Medical Students: The Mediating Role of Academic Engagement

Abstract

Introduction: Academic flow experience is an important factor and indicator for improving students’ learning experience and achievement. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between academic flow and intrinsic motivation by considering the mediating role of academic engagement among medical students. Methods: The current research is a cross-sectional study with a correlational design. The statistical population of the study included all the students enrolled at Kashan University of Medical Sciences (n=3,377) in the 2022-2023 academic year. A total of 356 students were selected by stratified random sampling using the proportional allocation method. The participants filled out the Harter’s Academic Motivation, Reeve and Tseng’s Academic Engagement, and Martin and Jackson’s Academic Flow questionnaires. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (structural equation modeling [SEM]) using the partial least square method through Smart-PLS (3) and SPSS (24). Results: The results demonstrated that the mean and standard deviation scores for intrinsic academic motivation were obtained at (56.28±13.37), for academic engagement at 97.49±25.06, and for academic flow at 28.30±5.66, all falling within the moderate range. The SEM results showed that the proposed model had a good fit with the empirical data. Intrinsic academic motivation could directly and significantly predict the academic flow of the students (ß=0.35, P<0.001), and this relationship was mediated by academic engagement (ß=0.12, P<0.001) as it was confirmed by the bootstrap estimation method. Conclusions: Based on findings, intrinsic academic motivation can promote academic engagement, which may consequently promote students’ academic flow. It is suggested that medical education planners and professors strengthen students’ academic engagement by creating an interactive and collaborative atmosphere and using challenging and engaging assignments, which may substantially facilitate students’ flow experience.