Abstract

MEDELLIN LOZANO, ELVERS WILLIAM. CONTRAST BETWEEN TWO SELF-DETERMINATION MOTIVATIONAL MODELS IN ORDER TO PREDICT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' DROPOUT. Act.Colom.Psicol. [online]. 2010, vol.13, n.2, pp.57-68. ISSN 0123-9155.

Within the framework of motivation and self-determination theories, this research contrasted two measurement structural models in order to predict university students' dropout behavior in Bogotá. Seven rating-type tests, structured from original instruments written in English and psychometrically analyzed by using the Rasch model were administered. Participants were 1118, university students of both genders enrolled in eight different undergraduate programs at five universities in Bogotá. The results reinforce a re-specified structural model predicting that university students who perceive support to academic autonomy, satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and self-determination levels in the classroom are less likely to desert, which in turn leads to decrease the actual undergraduate program dropout.

Keywords : Self-determination; autonomy; intrinsic motivation; extrinsic motivation; non-motivation; causality attribution; volition.

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