Autonomous motivation and meta-cognitive strategies as predictors of academic performance: Does intrinsic motivation predict academic performance?

The purpose of the present study was to examine differential effects of intrinsic and identified motivation on the academic performance of Japanese junior high school students, focusing on the relation between those motivations and meta-cognitive strategies. It was hypothesized that intrinsic motivation was independent of academic performance, whereas identified motivation was dependent on it, through the meta-cognitive strategies. A scale was developed, based on self-determination theory, for measuring academic motivation. In Study 1, the reliability and validity of the scale was confirmed. In Study 2, path analysis was used to develop a causal model that supported the above hypothesis. These results suggest that identified motivation is a significant factor in academic performance.