The antecedent and the outcome of students' motivation for choosing their academic majors

• Main Author: Nerona, Randolfh R.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Vocational guidance; Motivation in education; Academic achievement; Psychology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/7006; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/14250/viewcontent/2019_Nerona_Randolfh_Master_s_Thesis.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

Built upon Self-Determination Theory (SDT), the present study examines the associations among fathers’ and mothers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting, students’ autonomous and controlled motivations underlying their choice of academic major, and the satisfaction they feel about their choice of academic major. In my study, I predict that: (a) mothers’ (versus fathers’) autonomy-supportive parenting and fathers’ (versus mothers’) controlling parenting would be associated with students’ autonomous and controlled motivations for choosing their academic majors, respectively, (b) autonomous motivation underlying the choice of academic major would be positively related, and controlled motivation for choosing their academic major negatively related, to academic major satisfaction, and (c) fathers’ and mothers’ autonomy-supportive and controlling parenting would have differential indirect effects on academic major satisfaction via students’ autonomous and controlled motivations for choosing their academic majors. Data were collected from 515 undergraduate college students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) and bias-corrected bootstrap method yield results that provide support for the hypothesized relationships among the study variables. The theoretical contributions, practical implications, and suggestions for future research of the present study are discussed.