The Relationship between Optimism and Meaning of Education with Academic Motivation of Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the prediction of academic motivation of teacher-students based on optimism and meaning of education. For this purpose, 168 students from Farhangian University of Tehran (105 females and 63 males) were selected by stratified sampling and completed the study questionnaires. The instrument used in this study were Scheier and Carver's Life orientation, Henderson – King and Smith' meaning of education and Vallerend' academic motivation questionnaires. The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis. The findings indicated that there were significant positive relationships between optimism and meaning of education with academic motivation. Optimism and meaning of education explained 26 and 27 percent of the variance in academic motivation, respectively. The findings emphasize emotional and cognitive aspects of education such as optimism and meaning of education on improvement of student's academic motivation. It is worth that in learning process considered strategies to improve student's attitude towards education.