THE CORRELATION CONSIDERING THE DEGREE OF AUTONOMOUS MOTIVATION, ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND MENTAL HEALTH1

In the last twenty years, many studies have tested the Self-Determination 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 Self-Determination 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 tha