RESUMEN
The notion that motivation is imperative for students' psychological well-being and academic functioning is central to Self-Determination Theory (SDT). According to SDT, different types of motivations can co-occur to a various degree with separate outcomes, depending on the extent of experienced degree of autonomy. In the current study, we investigate how making a learning exercise more relevant for higher education STEM students can affect aspects of student functioning mediated through motivation. In a randomized experiment, results indicate that the students who received a more "relevant" assignment (experimental group) experienced more autonomous forms of motivation relative to the students who received a "generic" or "traditional" exercise (control group). Further, the experimental group reported higher levels of vitality and effort relative to the control group. Using a pre- and post-test design measuring changes in emotional affect during the learning activity, we found that the control group reported an increase in negative affect and a decrease in positive affect. Finally, path analysis showed significant relationships between the type of assignment provided and motivation and student functioning.
RESUMEN
This study investigated the temporal relationship between social self-efficacy and psychological distress during 3 years in middle to late adolescence. The sample comprised 1508 participants (60.7% female; baseline mean age = 16.33, SD = .62; 52.9% high perceived family wealth; 70.6% born in Norway). We used a random intercept cross-lagged panel model to investigate the concurrent and subsequent associations between the two constructs. The results indicated (1) small to moderate and negative associations between the trait-like components and within-person fluctuations of social self-efficacy and psychological distress, (2) positive and significant carry-over stability effects on both constructs across time, and (3) that psychological distress predicted subsequent social self-efficacy more consistently across four time points, than social self-efficacy predicted later psychological distress.