TY - JOUR
T1 - Paths to Autonomous Motivation and Well-being
T2 - Understanding the Contribution of Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Health Professions Students
AU - Zhu, Yuanyuan
AU - Dolmans, Diana
AU - Köhler, S. Eleonore
AU - Kusurkar, Rashmi A.
AU - Abidi, Latifa
AU - Savelberg, Hans
N1 - Funding Information:
The first author (YZ) received funding from China Scholarship Council for life expenses. The funding body had no role in the design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or in writing the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/1/1
Y1 - 2024/1/1
N2 - Background: Undergraduate students enrolled in Health Professions (HP) programs may experience challenges related to motivation and well-being. According to Self-Determination Theory, learning environments that support the three basic psychological needs (needs for autonomy, relatedness, competence) foster students’ autonomous motivation and well-being. Little is known about the associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and well-being in the HP domain and how they relate to one another in an integrative model. This study assesses the associations of the path “basic psychological needs satisfaction-autonomous motivation-well-being” within HP. Methods: We invited first-year students in the field of HP (N = 850) to fill out an electronic survey, measuring the satisfaction of each basic psychological need, autonomous motivation, and well-being and performed structural equation modelling to examine the paths between these variables. Results: In total, 202 students completed the survey (response rate 23.8%). Our model had an acceptable model fit: CFI = 0.924, TLI = 0.916, RMSEA = 0.052, SRMR = 0.057, chi-square test of model fit = 688.678 (p <.001). Autonomy satisfaction was directly and positively associated with autonomous motivation. The satisfaction of relatedness and competence was directly and positively associated with well-being, and each of them explained approximately the same degree of strength in well-being. Autonomous motivation did not have a direct effect on well-being. Conclusion: When students perceived their programs as autonomy supportive, they might develop higher autonomous motivation. Fostering students’ relatedness and competence might enhance students’ well-being. Teachers and curriculum designers can consider developing learning environments that support students’ autonomy, relatedness, and competence.
AB - Background: Undergraduate students enrolled in Health Professions (HP) programs may experience challenges related to motivation and well-being. According to Self-Determination Theory, learning environments that support the three basic psychological needs (needs for autonomy, relatedness, competence) foster students’ autonomous motivation and well-being. Little is known about the associations between basic psychological needs satisfaction, autonomous motivation, and well-being in the HP domain and how they relate to one another in an integrative model. This study assesses the associations of the path “basic psychological needs satisfaction-autonomous motivation-well-being” within HP. Methods: We invited first-year students in the field of HP (N = 850) to fill out an electronic survey, measuring the satisfaction of each basic psychological need, autonomous motivation, and well-being and performed structural equation modelling to examine the paths between these variables. Results: In total, 202 students completed the survey (response rate 23.8%). Our model had an acceptable model fit: CFI = 0.924, TLI = 0.916, RMSEA = 0.052, SRMR = 0.057, chi-square test of model fit = 688.678 (p <.001). Autonomy satisfaction was directly and positively associated with autonomous motivation. The satisfaction of relatedness and competence was directly and positively associated with well-being, and each of them explained approximately the same degree of strength in well-being. Autonomous motivation did not have a direct effect on well-being. Conclusion: When students perceived their programs as autonomy supportive, they might develop higher autonomous motivation. Fostering students’ relatedness and competence might enhance students’ well-being. Teachers and curriculum designers can consider developing learning environments that support students’ autonomy, relatedness, and competence.
KW - Autonomous motivation
KW - Basic psychological needs
KW - Health professions education
KW - Self-Determination Theory
KW - Structural Equation Modelling
KW - Well-being
U2 - 10.1007/s40670-024-02106-9
DO - 10.1007/s40670-024-02106-9
M3 - Article
SN - 2156-8650
JO - Medical Science Educator
JF - Medical Science Educator
ER -