ABSTRACT
The purposes of this study were: 1) to
modify the Exercise Motivation Scale (EMS: Fujita, Sato, & Moriguchi, 2010)
which has its theoretical basis on self-determination theory (SDT) in order to
adapt it to the academic field; 2) to confirm the factor structure of every
subscale of Academic Performance Motivation Scale (APMS) (the revised version
of EMS); 3) to evaluate the relationship between the students’ motivation
styles for academic activities and their psychological well-being; and 4) to examine
the relationship between motivation styles and academic achievement level,
using data from self-report questionnaire results obtained from 162 college
students in Japan. The 26 items in EMS were modified to accommodate to the
academic activities, and all of them were adopted in APMS after confirming the
content validity. Single-factor structure of all six subscales: Intrinsic
Motivation, Integrated Regulation, Identified Regulation, Introjected
Regulation, External Regulation, and A-Motivation, was confirmed by CFA. Mental
health impairment, academic stress, and perceived social support were applied
as indices of psycho-logical well-being. To assess the academic achievement
level, the respondents were asked whether they had had to retake at least one
examination and/or re-peat a year during the last twelve months. Consistent
with SDT, the motivation styles with higher levels of autonomy and integration
were related to high perceived social support. On the contrary, the motivation
styles with lower levels of autonomy and integration were related to poor
mental health, in-creased academic stress, and low perceived social support. It
was not concluded whether academic achievement is related to motivation style.