College Goals: Do Self-Determined and Carefully Considered Goals Predict Intrinsic Motivation, Academic Performance, and Adjustment During the First Semester?

Author: Conti R.

Source: Social Psychology of Education, Volume 4, Number 2, 2000 , pp. 189-211(23)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

The present study investigated whether choosing autonomous goals for pursuing a college education and reflecting on those goals promotes intrinsic motivation toward coursework, higher grades and improved adjustment to college over time. Incoming first-year college students responded to the College Goals Questionnaire before starting classes, and to the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire and the Work Preference Inventory during their first semester. Results indicated that the degree to which students who reflected on their goals had high levels of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The autonomy of students’ goals predicted grade point average, high intrinsic motivation, low extrinsic motivation, and improvement in social and emotional adjustment over time. These findings contribute to the literature on personal goals by establishing the importance of having well-thought- through and autonomous goals during the transition to college.

Language: English

Document Type: Regular paper

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 13346, U.S.A. e-mail: RConti@Mail.Colgate.edu

Publication date: 2000-01-01