The relationship between psychological basic needs and academic engagement by considering the mediating role of intrinsic motivation

The growing body of research has focused on the important role of academic engagement. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between basic psychological needs and academic engagement by considering the mediating role of intrinsic motivation. This research is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of all students at the University of Kashan in 2020. Multistage random sampling was used to select 331 students. The data collection instruments were Reeve & Tseng Engagement Questionnaire, Gagné Basic Psychological Needs Scale, and Harterchr('39')s scale of academic motivation. Pearson correlation coefficient and Structural Equation Modeling were used to analyze the data. The results showed a positive significant relationship between academic engagement, basic psychological needs, and intrinsic motivation (p < 0.01). In addition, the proposed model had a good fit. Moreover, path analysis results indicated that basic psychological needs had a significant effect on academic engagement, and intrinsic motivation mediated this relationship. The findings indicate that the fulfillment of basic psychological needs can help students develop their sense of intrinsic motivation, increasing student engagement in learning activities. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to the development of programs and the revision of educational methods for improving academic engagement.