Student's Motivational Profiles and Academic Achievement in Mathematics from a Self-Determination Perspective

The present study aimed at examining motivational profiles of Tabriz highschool students and testing whether the profile groups differed on academic achievement. Therefore, using a multistage cluster method, 781 subjects were selected, from which, 691 people were entered the analysis. They were assessed through the academic motivation scale questionnaire. Hierarchical cluster analysis method, ANOVA, and MANOVA were used to determine the optimal cluster structure of students. The results revealed that 4 profiles: a good quality motivation group (i.e., high autonomous, low controlled); a poor quality motivation group (i.e., low autonomous, high controlled); a low quantity motivation group (i.e., low autonomous, low controlled); and a high quantity motivation group (i.e., high autonomous, high controlled. At the end of the semester, the students in good quality motivation group showed better performance.