The Role of Motivational Orientations and Returning Home Country: Turkish International Graduate Students in the U.S.

This study investigated Turkish international graduate students' motivational orientations to continue their education in relation to U.S. domestic graduate students and the role of motivational orientations in their decision to return to their home country. Data were collected via online surveys with graduate students in U.S. universities (n = 167). The Academic Motivation Scale (AMS, Vallerand at al., 1992) and Achievement Goal Questionnaire-Revised (AGQ- R, Elliot & Murayama, 2008), which are commonly used measures of motivation, were used in this study. In the analysis of the data, independent sample t-tests and one-way ANOVAs were performed. Findings revealed that Turkish graduate students less frequently experience intrinsic motivation and performance-approach motivation, and being undecided about returning to one's home country is associated with increased levels of performance-avoidance motivation.