The differentiated mediation effect of academic autonomous and controlled motivation in the relation between self-concept and achievement

The present study aimed to examine the mediation effect of students' motivation in the relation between students' self-concept and achievement, considering the different regulation types described by Self-Determination Theory. The central objective of our study was to determine if autonomous and controlled motivation types in different school-subjects would mediate differently the relation between self-concepts and achievement. Indeed, autonomous motivation types have been shown to be more related to academic outcomes than controlled ones, and therefore we expected that this would result in differential mediation effects. A 2-wave study was carried out on a sample of 411 high school students in grades 9 and 10. Students' self-concept, self-determined motivations and grades were assessed in 4 different school-subjects (i.e., math, French, English, physical education). Results confirmed our hypothesis and showed that autonomous motivation types mediated the contribution of self-concept to achievement in corresponding school subjects whereas controlled motivation types did not. Educational and methodological implications are discussed and location of introjected approach regulation on the relative autonomy continuum is questioned in regards of previous results confirmed by ours in this study.