Undergraduate students' motivational profiles before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of educational climate and trait self-control

Abstract

Background: Universities faced important and sudden changes following the lockdown measures imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditional educational practices were disrupted as campuses were closed while distance learning was hastily adopted. Aims: This study documents the evolution of university students' autonomous and controlled motivation for their studies following campus closures by relying on a person-centred perspective. More specifically, it examines motivation profiles and their temporal stability across two time points taken before and during the pandemic, while also considering the role of educational climate, trait self-control and control variables (sex and age) as predictors of profile membership. Sample: A total of 1940 university students participated in this study by responding to online questionnaires at two time points, before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the pandemic. Methods: We relied on latent profile and latent transition analyses to estimate motivation profiles, their temporal stability and their predictors. Results: A four-profile solution (Self-Determined, Moderately Motivated, Extrinsically Motivated, Amotivated) was selected and replicated at both time points. We observed a low degree of variability in profile membership over time, especially for the Amotivated profile. A need-supportive educational climate and trait self-control consistently predicted a greater likelihood of membership into more adaptative profiles (Self-Determined, Moderately Motivated). Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic did not drastically change the motivational profiles of university students. Nevertheless, educational climate and self-control appeared to ‘protect’ students against the endorsement of more problematic motivation profiles both before and during the pandemic, making them important targets for intervention.