Basic Psychological Needs and Their Association with Academic Factors in the Spanish University Context

Ramón Chacón-Cuberos, Amador Jesús Lara-Sánchez and Manuel Castro-Sánchez
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Ramón Chacón-Cuberos: Department of Research Methods and Diagnosis in Education, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Amador Jesús Lara-Sánchez: Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Manuel Castro-Sánchez: Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Corporal Expression, University of Granada, 52071 Melilla, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-9

Abstract: Motivational development represents a key element for academic performance in the university context. A non-experimental study with a cross-sectional and ex post facto design through a single measurement in a single group was conducted. The sample was made up of a total of 2736 university students (♂ = 33.8% ( n = 924); ♀ = 66.2% ( n = 1812)) belonging to a total of 19 Spanish universities. The main instrument used was the Basic Psychological Needs scale, using the IBM SPSS 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) software for data analysis. The results showed that the need for autonomy was higher in social sciences students, those who accessed their studies through vocational training and those who attended their degree in person. In addition, this need was positively related to score, but inversely related to age and grade. The need for competence was higher in students who studied in private centers, those who accessed their university studies through other ways and those students who studied online. Likewise, this need was directly related to the score. Finally, it should be noted that the need for relationships was higher in university students from public institutions, students who accessed their studies through vocational training and those who studied in face-to-face universities. The need for a relationship correlated positively with the score, although with less strength than other needs. In this way, the relevance of various academic factors in the motivational development of students can be established, from which various educational implications are derived in order to favor academic performance.

Keywords: higher education; motivation; academic performance; grant; teaching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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