Predicting Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation can be predicted from participants' perceptions of the social environment and the task environment (Ryan & Deci, 2000)in terms of control, relatedness and competence. To determine the degree of independence of these factors 251 students in higher vocational education (physiotherapy and hotel management) indicated the extent to which they perceived control, relatedness, and competence in different types of education, their motivation to learn, and their study behaviors. Principal component analysis showed that the perceptions of control, relatedness and competence are so strongly related that when students rate one of the constructs negatively, such as their perception of the task control, they will also rate the others (relatedness and perception of competence) more negatively. These results were confirmed by analyses of two additional data sets. Consequences for measurement issues and motivational science are discussed.