The relationship between academic motivation and the perception of parental behavior among high school students

Motivacija iz obrazovne perspektive definira se kao akademska motivacija i odnosi se na uzroke ponašanja koji su povezani s akademskim funkcioniranjem kao što su: ulaganje truda, način regulacije svoga rada, usmjerenja na pojedine obrazovne ciljeve npr. upis fakulteta i sl. Temeljne psihološke potrebe, npr. autonomija, su veoma važne odrednice stupnja samoodređenja te se one dobrim dijelom realiziraju unutar bliskih odnosa, pa tako i odnosa s roditeljima. Prema tome, primaran cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati odnos percepcije roditeljskog ponašanja (prihvaćanja, odbacivanja i kontrole) s intrinzičnom i ekstrinzičnom motivacijom za studij. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo ukupno 136 sudionika (26% mladića i 74% djevojaka) završnih razreda različitih srednjih škola u Zadru (29% učenika strukovnih škola i 71% učenika gimnazija). Podaci su se prikupljali online metodom prilikom koje su se koristile Skala akademske motivacije (Ribić, 2016) i Skala percepcije roditeljskog ponašanja (Macuka, 2007). Utvrđene su značajne razlike u akademskoj motivaciji za studij s obzirom na spol i vrstu škole. Djevojke su intrinzično i ekstrinzično motiviranije za studij u odnosu na mladiće, te su učenici koji pohađaju gimnaziju generalno motiviraniji za studij u odnosu na učenike strukovnih škola. Nisu utvrđene značajne povezanosti percepcije roditeljskog prihvaćanja i odbacivanja s intrinzičnom motivacijom za studij. Utvrđena je značajna povezanost odbacivanja od strane oca s ekstrinzičnom motivacijom, što znači da je kod učenika koji percipiraju više odbacivanja od strane oca ujedno više izražena ekstrinzična motivacija za studij. Utvrđene su niske pozitivne povezanosti percepcije kontrole od strane majke i oca s ekstrinzičnom motivacijom za studij, drugim riječima što je kod učenika veća percepcija kontrole od strane roditelja, to je veća ekstrinzična motivacija za studij.Motivation from an educational perspective is defined as academic motivation and it refers to the causes of behaviors related to academic functioning such as effort, work regulation, focusing on certain educational goals such as college enrollment, etc. Basic psychological needs, for example autonomy, are considered to be realized through close relationships, including relationships with parents. Accordingly, the aim of the present study was to examine the relationships between perceived parental behavior (acceptance, rejection, and control) and intrinsic and extrinsic academic motivation to attend the college. The research was conducted on a sample of 136 high school students (26% male students and 74% female students) in the final grades of various schools in Zadar (29% of students were vocational school students and 71% were gymnasium students). Data were collected through an online survey using the Academic Motivation Scale (Ribić, 2016) and the Perception of Parental Behavior Scale (Macuka, 2007). The results showed that there are significant differences in academic motivation with respect to gender and the type of school that students attend. Girls are more intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to attend college than boys, and gymnasium students are generally more motivated to attend college than vocational school students. No significant correlations were found between the perception of parental acceptance and rejection and intrinsic motivation. In addition, low positive relationship was found between the perception of father’s rejection and extrinsic motivation, which indicates that the higher the perception of rejection by the father is, the stronger the extrinsic motivation for college attendance. The results showed that there are low positive correlations between the perception of mother’s and father’s control and extrinsic motivation to attend college, which indicates that the higher the perception of control by parents in students is, the stronger the extrinsic motivation for college attendance