The Correlation Considering the Degree of Autonomous Motivation, Academic Achievement and Mental Health

In the last twenty years, many studies have tested the SelfDetermination Theory and the possibility to generalize the obtained results in case of academic population. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation considering the degree of autonomous motivation, academic achievement and mental health. The study was conducted on a sample of 350 second and third year students (169 male and 181 female). Self Regulation Questionnaire-Academic (SRQ-A, Ryan & Connell, 1989) and SF-36 Health Survey (Ware & Sherbourne, 1992) were included as instruments; average grades obtained in the previous academic year and a total number of exams that had not been passed were used for measuring academic achievements. The obtained results supported the SelfDetermination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991). There is a positive correlation between academic self-regulation and average grades. Students who are more autonomously motivated had better average grades than students with controlled motivation. There is also a negative correlation between academic self-regulation and total number of exams not passed yet. Students who are more autonomously motivated had a smaller number of such exams than 1 As the author, I gratefully acknowledge the support and help of Professor Zvonimir Knezović, PhD, during the writing of this paper. T. Velki: The correlation considering the degree of autonomous motivation, academic achievement and mental health 57 students with controlled motivations. We found a significant positive correlation related to the degree of relative autonomy, mental and general health. Students with autonomous motivation reported better mental and general health than students with controlled motivation.