A study of the relationship between personality characteristics, self-efficacy and control source, and achievement motivation

Naser Behrouzi, Gholamhossein Maktabi, Ali Asghar Rasouli

Abstract


The present study aims to investigate the relationship between personality characteristics, self-efficacy and locus of control, on the one side, and the motivation for achievement, on the other, a case study of the students studying at bachelor’s level at Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz. The statistical population of this study includes all the BA.BS students of Shahid Chamran University in the 2015-2016 educational year. The statistical sample of the study comprises 300 students (150 male and 150 female). The sampling method is stager and om sampling and students are selected from different departments of Shahid Chamran University. The data collection instruments include five-factor questionnaire called NEO (NEO-FFI), achievement motivation questionnaire (AMQ), Adams and Sharer’s self-efficacy questionnaire and Rotter’s scale of locus of control. The results of a simple correlation analysis revealed that personality characteristics (agreement, extrovertist, openness, conscientiousness) have a meaningful (significant) and positive relationship with motivation for achievement, while neurosis has a significant and negative relationship with this construct. Both self-efficacy and locus of control are positively and meaningfully related to students’ motivation for achievement. Also, the result of regression analyses indicate that self-efficacy and locus of control play a vital role in predicting students’ motivation for achievement, personality characteristics (agreement, extrovertist, openness, conscientiousness and neurosis),  and among the above-mentioned variables, self-efficacy, conscientiousness and locus of control are recorded the best predictors for motivation of achievement.

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