ISSN 1808-057X

Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an

Accounting Degree Program*
Edvalda Araújo Leal
Ph.D., Department of Accounting Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia
E-mail: edvalda@facic.ufu.br

Gilberto José Miranda

Ph.D., Department of Accounting Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia
E-mail: gilbertojm@facic.ufu.br

Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

Master, Department of Accounting Sciences, Federal University of Uberlândia
E-mail: crscarmo@facic.ufu.br

Received on 1.16.2012- Accepted on 3.22.2012- 3rd. version accepted on 9.19.2012

ABSTRACT
The Self-Determination Theory has been widely discussed in the field of motivation in school learning and, according to some researchers,
this theory can be summarized as a continuum of self-determination that indicates six types of motivation, which vary qualitatively according
to the internalization of external rules of behavior. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the motivation of Accounting Science
students in a public university in light of the Self-Determination Theory. The research sample consisted of 259 students enrolled in all
academic terms of the Accounting degree program of a public higher education institution in Brazil. The survey results were analyzed
using exploratory factor analysis, which identified seven factors that explain 61.09% of the total data variability. The results of the present
study are somewhat consistent with those found in previous studies, and the motivation for learning was quite diverse among the students
studied. However, some students were concerned with deepening their level of expertise or achieving adequate foundations for their
future role. Others were concerned only with getting their diploma or were present in classes simply to meet attendance requirements.
These findings show the relevance of studies on the teaching of Accounting because the field has epistemological peculiarities that must
be considered while teaching and learning. It is important to emphasize the importance of understanding and evaluating students'
motivational levels because this will facilitate planning while encouraging and exploring motivation in academic settings.
Keywords: Self-Determination. Motivation. Students. Teaching. Accounting.

*Paper presented at the Third Meeting of Teaching and Research in Management and Accounting / (Encontro de Ensino e Pesquisa em Administração e Contabilidade - EnEPQ) held in Joao Pessoa / Paraíba (PB) in 2011.

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 Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an Accounting Degree Program

1 Introduction

Motivation in the school context has been highlighted behavior regulation types.
in several studies in recent years. In most cases, the goal In this context, the question guiding the present
has been to find ways to influence students to increase their study is the following: what are the types and levels of
involvement in learning activities (Guimarães, Bzuneck, & academic motivation affecting Accounting Sciences stu-
Sanches, 2002). dents in light of the SDT? In other words, the purpose
Students' motivation is considered a galvanizing of the study is to evaluate the motivation of Accounting
energy in the teaching and learning process that per- Science students from a Brazilian public university in li-
meates all levels of education, both in relation to the ght of the SDT, using Guimarães and Bzuneck's (2008)
amount of time students spend studying as well as study as a basis.
their academic performance and achievements, and A quantitative approach was adopted in the research:
contributes importantly to the achievement of imme- a survey was conducted by distributing a questionnaire to
diate satisfaction in their lives - wellbeing versus ma- Accounting Science students (259 participants). A factor
laise (Lens, Matos, & Vansteenkiste, 2008). For these analysis was performed along with principal components
authors, motivation is "a psychological process in whi- extraction, internal consistency analysis, and descriptive
ch personality traits (e.g., motives, reasons, skills, in- statistics.
terests, expectations, and future perspectives) interact The main difference between this study and that
with perceived environmental characteristics" (Lens, of Guimarães and Bzuneck's (2008) lies in the sample
Matos, & Vansteenkiste, 2008, p. 17); this indicates that studied because the present study investigated univer-
student motivation can be affected by changes within sity students enrolled in an Accounting Sciences pro-
the students themselves, in their learning environment, gram rather than students enrolled in several progra-
or in school culture. ms. The importance of the proposed research lies in
In this sense, the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) has its empirical scientific contribution because it seeks
been widely discussed in the field of motivation in scho- to identify, in light of the SDT, the factors that might
ol learning, and many studies have shown that motivation promote or jeopardize the motivation of Accounting
can affect students' learning and performance and, conver- Science students.
sely, that learning can affect motivation (Wechsler, 2006, Little research has been conducted in Brazil regarding
Pfromm, 1987, Schunk, 1991, Mitchell, Jr., 1992). academic motivation in higher education, representing a
The principles of the SDT state that individuals' mo- gap with regard to knowing and understanding the styles
tivations differ, being determined and driven by contexts of behavior regulation in Brazilian university students
that support psychological needs that manifest themselves (Guimarães & Bzuneck, 2008). This gap is particularly
in different ways, making students' motivation for lear- noticeable in the accounting context because the field
ning "a complex, multi-determined phenomenon, which has epistemological peculiarities that must be conside-
can only be inferred by observing behavior, either in real red during the teaching and learning process (Njoku,
performance situations or by self-reporting" (Guimarães & Heijden, & Inanga, 2010; Pierre, Wilson, Ravenscroft, &
Bzuneck, 2008, p.111). Rebele, 2009; Kachelmeier, 2002; Bell, Frecka, & Solo-
Based on the SDT, Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008) mon, 1993); notably, these include understanding and
presented a study on the psychometric properties of a evaluating students' motivational levels because only
Brazilian version of the Academic Motivation Scale then is planning to explore and encourage motivation in
(AMS), which was conducted with a group of university the classroom possible.
students in the northern region of the state of Paraná. The study is divided into five sections, the first of whi-
The authors used factor analysis to evaluate the data and ch is this introduction. The second section discusses the
inferred that the seven factors identified showed good SDT, its fundamentals, proposed scales, and previous stu-
internal consistency, with the exception of the evalua- dies. The research method is presented in the third section.
tion of extrinsic motivation by identified regulation. The The calculated results are presented in the fourth section,
correlations between the studied variables supported the and concluding remarks are presented in the fifth and final
proposition of a self-determination continuum for the section.

2 THE SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY (SDT)

According to Gagné and Deci (2005, p. 331), Porter and interesting and feel spontaneous satisfaction in carrying it
Lawler (1968) proposed a model of work motivation ba- out. Extrinsic motivation, in contrast, requires an instru-
sed on the motivation theory of Vroom (1964) that opera- mentality between the activity and some separable conse-
tes on two dimensions: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic quences such as verbal or tangible rewards. The satisfaction
motivation. According to this theory, intrinsic motivation does not come from the activity itself but rather from the
involves people performing an activity because they find it extrinsic consequences produced by the activity.

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 Edvalda Araújo Leal, Gilberto José Miranda & Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

In other words, the SDT "makes an important distinc- According to Penna (2001), motivation is the study
tion between two different motivational issues: why versus object of Psychology, and the various theories are de-
what for. What is the purpose of your activity and why do rived from four main movements: behavioral, cogniti-
you want to accomplish this goal?; what are the reasons that ve, psychoanalytic, and humanistic. The SDT builds on
lead the effort to achieve this goal?" (Lens, Matos, & Vans- the principle of evaluating different manifestations of
teenkiste, 2008, p. 19, emphasis added). motivation that may be involved in the teaching and
School learning has also been studied through the con- learning process.
cepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Researchers It has also been argued by researchers that motivation
state that an intrinsically motivated student "is one whose (intrinsic or extrinsic) varies in relation to culture (Trum-
involvement and maintenance in the activity happens as a bull & Rothstein-Fisch, 2011; Kaplan, Karabenick, & De
result of the task itself because it is interesting and creates Groot, 2009; Brockelman, 2009; Rothstein-Fisch & Trum-
satisfaction; students with this type of motivation work on bull, 2008; Otsuka & Smith, 2005; Henderlong & Lepper,
activities because they consider them pleasant" (Siqueira & 2002). For Trumbull and Rothstein-Fisch (2011), the very
Wechsler, 2006, p. 22). The extrinsically motivated student notion of self-determination is limited by culture becau-
"is one who performs a task or activity because they are se some cultures are more oriented to the "I" than to the
interested in social or external rewards; a student with this "other". Moreover, what counts as an extrinsic motivator
type of motivation is more interested in the opinion of the and the way in which it is used is also culturally variable
other person, [...] external recognition, praise or just avoi- (Rothstein-Fisch & Trumbull, 2008).
ding punishment" (Siqueira & Wechsler, 2006, p. 22). As research has evolved on this topic (Lens, Matos, &
According to Siqueira and Wechsler (2006, p. 22), re- Vansteenkiste, 2008; Vansteenkiste, Lens, & Deci, 2006;
searchers' interest in the motivational aspects of learning Siqueira & Wechsler, 2006; Gagné & Deci, 2005), diffe-
is a recent development, whereas older theories positioned rent degrees of motivation have been mapped, in addi-
motivation as an important precondition. However, today's tion to the cultural aspects. Gagné and Deci (2005) have
studies show a reciprocal relationship, i.e., "motivation can presented a self-determination continuum (Figure 1), in
have an effect on learning and performance at the same which six types of motivation are differentiated that vary
time that learning can affect motivation" (Siqueira and We- qualitatively according to the internalization of external
chsler, 2006, p. 22). behavioral regulation.

Demotivation Extrinsic Intrinsic

Motivation Motivation

External Introjected Identified Integrated

Regulation Regulation Regulation Regulation

Performance-based
Absence of Reward and Importance of Coherence between
self-esteem; ego Interest and
intentional punishment goals, values and goals, values and
involvement pleasure in the task
regulation contingencies regulations regulations

Absence of Moderately Moderately Inherently

Controlled Autonomous
motivation controlled autonomous autonomous
motivation motivation
motivation motivation motivation

Figure 1   The Self-Determination continuum

Source: Adapted from Gagné and Deci (2005, p. 336).

According to this approach, the analysis of the mo- The second group, extrinsic motivation, is divided
tivation of an individual can be classified into three into four types of behavioral regulation: a) External
groups: demotivation, extrinsic motivation, and intrin- regulation; this is the least autonomous form of mo-
sic motivation. Demotivation, as the name implies, is tivation because, in this case, the person acts to ob-
characterized by a lack of motivation, i.e., the person tain rewards or avoid punishments. For example, "a
has no intention to engage in proactive behavior, and "in student can be (even highly) motivated to study on a
such a situation, there is devaluation of activity and a Friday evening because that way his/her mother might
lack of perceived personal control." (Guimarães & Bzu- let him/her go to a party on Saturday night (extrinsic
neck, 2008, p. 103). motivation and external regulation)" (Lens, Matos, &

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 Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an Accounting Degree Program

Vansteenkiste, 2008, p. 19). b) Introjected regulation; psychometric properties of an instrument termed the
the person manages external consequences according Echelle de Motivation en Education [Academic Motivation
to the result of internal pressures such as guilt and an- Scale] (EME), the objective of which was to measure mo-
xiety. For instance, "a student can give his/her best in tivation in education. This study was conducted with 746
school because his/her parents require it and he/she university students. The results confirmed the existence
does not want to disobey them and because otherwise of seven subscales that measured three types of internal
he/she would feel guilty. Thus, he/she studies to avoid motivation: (a) to know, (b) to experience sensations, and
feeling guilty" (Lens, Matos, & Vansteenkiste, 2008, p. (c) to accomplish, in addition to three other types of mo-
19). c) Identified regulation; this form is more auto- tivation: (a) external; (b) introjected, and (c) identified
nomous than the previous types because, in this case, regulation.
some internalization already exists, even if the reason Other studies on the construction or adaptation of
for doing something is of external origin. For example, instruments to evaluate motivation for learning were
"A student can do his/her best in school because he/ conducted by Deci and Ryan (1985), Vallerand et al.
she wants to go to college and become an architect. He/ (1992), Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, and Tighe (1994),
She perceives himself/herself as a future architect. This Guimarães, Bzuneck, and Sanches (2002), Reeve and
student’s motivation is instrumental and hence extrin- Sickenius (1994), and Guimarães, Bzuneck, and Boru-
sic, but identifies itself with the reason to study" (Lens, chovitch (2003). The results of these studies show that
Matos, & Vansteenkiste, 2008, p. 19). d) Integrated it is possible to evaluate learning motivation in a valid,
regulation; here, the behavior, goals and values of the accurate, and reliable way.
person are coherent. This is the most autonomous form It is noteworthy that Vallerand et al. (1992) propo-
of extrinsic motivation, although the focus remains "on sed to validate the scale for measuring learning moti-
personal benefits arising from carrying out the activi- vation (EME) constructed by Vallerand et al. (1989).
ty" (Guimarães & Bzuneck, 2008, p. 103). The results revealed that the EME showed satisfactory
Finally, in relation to intrinsic motivation, the person levels of internal consistency and temporal stability.
has interest and enjoyment in performing the task, and the The instrument showed robust psychometric proper-
activity is perceived as an end in itself. ties, reinforcing the construct’s validity (Vallerand et
Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008) note that several al., 1992).
studies have found associations between the types of The French scale Echelle de Motivation en Education
motivation and positive learning results with the use (EME), which was developed and validated by Vallerand
of deep information processing strategies and psycho- et al. (1989), was translated into a Portuguese version,
logical wellbeing (Grolnick & Ryan, 1989; Miserandino, which was renamed the ‘Escala de Motivação Acadêmi-
1996; Ryan & Deci, 2000). In the same line of thought, ca’ (Academic Motivation Scale - AMS), although few
Osborne and Jones (2011) propose a theoretical model studies have been conducted in Brazil on academic mo-
that directly links the structure of self-motivation to tivation in higher education (Sobral, 2003; Guimarães &
academic results. Furthermore, the authors suggest stra- Bzuneck, 2008; Souza, 2008; Falcão & Rosa, 2008; Engel-
tegies to increase student motivation (increasing student mann, 2010).
autonomy, demonstrating the usefulness of academic Initially, this scale was applied by Sobral (2003), who
knowledge, supporting student success, initiating and evaluated student motivation in a medical degree program
supporting students' interests, and fostering a sense of based on the SDT’s precepts. The Portuguese version ap-
belonging to the group) and, consequently, their acade- plied by Sobral (2003) listed 28 items divided into seven
mic results. subscales of four items each, evaluating the three types of
To evaluate academic motivation, some studies have intrinsic motivation (to know, to accomplish, and to expe-
set out to develop and validate questionnaires or scales, rience sensations) and the three types of extrinsic motiva-
as follows: Yamauchi (1980) developed a scale to mea- tion (External, Introjection, and Identification) as well as
sure motives related to academic performance, invol- Demotivation.
ving a sample of 299 university students; Harter (1981) Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008) conducted a survey
constructed an instrument to assess children's intrin- of the psychometric properties of a Brazilian version of
sic versus extrinsic orientation in school learning and the AMS with a group of university students. According
mastery in the classroom (based on a sample of 2,925 to the authors, the seven factors identified showed good
subjects); Palenzuela (1987) attempted to develop a internal consistency, with the exception of the evalua-
Spanish questionnaire to evaluate intrinsic motivation tion of extrinsic motivation by identified regulation. The
and self-determination; and Shah (1988) developed a correlations between variables supported the proposi-
motivation scale for performance based on four fac- tion of a self-determination continuum for the different
tors of need; namely, motivation to perform, to achieve types of behavior regulation. This study provided sup-
academic success, toward vocational performance and port for the construction of the instrument used in the
social performance, and skills. present study.
Following this pattern, Vallerand, Blais, Briere, and Using the AMS, Souza (2008) conducted a study to
Pelletier (1989) developed and validated (in French) the assess whether future goals, self-stipulated by education

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 Edvalda Araújo Leal, Gilberto José Miranda & Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

students at a public university in northern Paraná, could cording to the authors, extrinsic motivation was scored
influence the students' perceptions about the activities re- the highest, which suggested that freshman students of
quired in their program; the study also assessed the type university programs are extrinsically oriented towards
of motivation adopted by the students in the present. At pursuing goals due to the characteristics of the educa-
the end of the work, the author observed a prevalence of tional system itself. The survey also showed that because
autonomous (intrinsic) motivation among the students in most private university students are already active in the
the research sample. labor market, they perceive the act of attending univer-
In a study conducted with the students of an Arts sity as a higher motivating factor, unlike students in pu-
program at a public university in northern Paraná, using blic institutions. The authors emphasized that the per-
the AMS, Engelmann (2010) sought to identify the type ceptions of this last category of students is more related
of motivation, perception of basic skill needs for lear- to the beginning of their professional life.
ning, learning strategies used, perception of academic Falcão and Rosa's (2008) study analyzing the moti-
performance, and students' intention to remain in the vational characteristics of freshmen and non-freshmen
program. In light of the SDT and after analyzing the data students found that students in public universities exhi-
collected, the researcher noted that it was possible to ob- bit a pattern of increasing motivation as they progress
serve a predominance of the most autonomous type of through the programs. In private institutions, the oppo-
motivation among the 192 students in the four grades site occurs because most of these students enter univer-
of the program. Regarding the perception of basic needs sity with greater motivation, and this motivation decre-
that are relevant to learning, Engelmann (2010) noted ases over time.
that three of these needs (a sense of belonging, compe- Falcão and Rosa (2008) and Boruchovitch (2008)
tence, and autonomy) are directly related to the intrinsic also found differences with respect to gender. Female
motivation of students. The researcher also noted that students showed a higher level of intrinsic motivation
students positively used adaptive learning strategies that than male students. The researchers noted that this fin-
are related to managing resources and deep learning. Re- ding may be related to increasing female participation
garding the perception of performance, it was found that in the labor market. However, when they attempted to
the best performance meets the personal expectations of analyze levels of extrinsic motivation, the male students
success and security regarding the achievement of the showed higher levels of motivation. To explain the lat-
established goals. ter finding, Falcão and Rosa (2008) assume that social
With regard to the relationship between the variables variables have an effect, i.e., they believe that men, still
studied by Engelmann (2010), the students' perceptions living in a society that exhibits traces of patriarchy, are
about the basic needs for learning in the social context more motivated to fulfill tasks and the pursuit of ma-
of the program revealed that these needs were predictors terial rewards for their livelihood and that of their fa-
of the intrinsic motivation detected. Regarding demo- mily.
tivation, the perceived satisfaction of those needs had Oliveira, Theóphilo, Batista, and Soares (2010) con-
a negative predictive effect. The variation of the use of ducted a survey with students regarding an Accounting
deep learning strategies was related to extrinsic motiva- Sciences program to identify their motivation level based
tion variables through introjected regulation and intrin- on the SDT. They used the AMS for this purpose, and the
sic motivation. results were analyzed using descriptive statistics that in-
Specifically, in the field of Applied Social Sciences, dicated high levels of student motivation (both in earlier
Falcão and Rosa (2008) applied the AMS to 267 univer- and later academic terms). However, the authors point to
sity students from public and private institutions in the lower levels of student motivation during later terms of
state of Rio de Janeiro to identify and compare the cha- the program (non-freshmen).
racteristics of students' motivating factors on the mana- Table 1 summarizes the studies presented.
gement programs of public and private institutions. Ac-

Table 1   SDT: progression of the studies

Authors Objectives
Vroom (1964) Proposed a theory of motivation.
Porter and Lawler (1968) Proposed the study of motivation on two dimensions: intrinsic motivation and
extrinsic motivation.
Yamauchi (1980); Harter (1981); Deci and Ryan (1985); Palenzuela Proposed measurement scales of learning motivation.
(1987); Shah (1988); Vallerand et al. (1989, 1992); Reeve and Sickenius;
(1994); Amabile et al. (1994), Guimarães, Bzuneck, and Sanches (2002);
Guimarães, Bzuneck, and Boruchovitch (2003), and Sobral (2003).
Gagné and Deci (2005) Proposed a self-determination continuum: demotivation, extrinsic motivation
(external regulation, introjected regulation, identified regulation, integrated
regulation), and intrinsic motivation.
Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008), Souza (2008); Falcão and Rosa (2008), Proposed measurement scales of learning motivation, based on the self-deter-
Engelmann (2010) mination continuum.

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 Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an Accounting Degree Program

3 Methods

The instrument used in the present study was the Sciences program of a public higher education institu-
Brazilian version of the AMS proposed by Guimarães tion in Brazil.
and Bzuneck (2008). This instrument includes 29 ite- According to Fávero, Belfiore, Silva, and Chan (2009,
ms, with each point of the self-determination continuum p. 237), a sample must generally have "at least 5 times
being evaluated by a set of items that encompasses three more observations than the number of variables that
types of intrinsic motivation (to know, to accomplish, make up the database." In the present study, 259 Ac-
and to experience sensations), three types of extrinsic counting Sciences students in a Brazilian Public Institu-
motivation (External, Introjection, and Identification), tion participated, representing almost 9 times the num-
and Demotivation. An initial question: "Why do I come ber of variables in the database (29). The profile of the
to university?", was presented to the participants, and respondents was 153 (59.1%) females and 106 (40.9%)
this was followed by 29 statements, each of which was males, distributed among the following age groups: 38
answered using a Likert seven-point scale (1 not true at (14.7%) up to 19 years of age, 182 (70.3%) from 20 to 25
all to 7 totally true). years of age, and 39 (15.1%) aged 26 years or older. Of
the students, 136 (52.5%) had some work experience in
3.1 Data Collection and Participants. the field of accounting.
A pretest of the survey instrument was initially applied
to a group of five students, and after adjustments, data col- 3.2 Data Analysis.
lection began. The process began by scheduling a date and Initially, the statistical test known as exploratory factor
time with the professors of each class researched (1st to 10th analysis was conducted to simplify the data set obtained
academic terms) of the Accounting Sciences program of a with the application of the instrument. The test evaluates
Brazilian public university. how much each factor is associated with each variable, as
Permission was sought from the professor to give the well as analyzing to what degree the set of factors found
questionnaire to the participating students to complete in explains the variability of results obtained in the sample by
the classroom, and, before answering, the students signed summing the variances of the original variables (Fávero et
an informed consent form. Students were informed about al., 2009).
the study objectives and assured about the confidentiali- After organizing the items based on the results of the
ty of the information provided and their freedom not to factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis was used to
answer the questionnaire, if they so wished. assess the means and standard deviations. The Pearson's
The study sample consisted of 259 students enrol- correlation coefficient was then calculated to ascertain the
led in all academic terms (1st to 10th) of the Accounting linear association between the studied variables.

4 Presentation and Analysis of Results

Factor analysis was performed using the 29 items re- on each slope, the rotation point for each factor found. This
sulting from the study of Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008). graph also informally displays the variance explained by
First, the Scree graph (Figure 2) is shown, which indicates the principal components in order from the highest to the
the eigenvalues and the principal components representing, lowest (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2005).

6
Eigenvalue

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Component Number

Figure 2   Estimates of the eigenvalues as a function of the number of factors

Source: Study data.

R. Cont. Fin. – USP, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 62, p. 162-173, maio/jun./jul./ago. 2013 167
 Edvalda Araújo Leal, Gilberto José Miranda & Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

In this study, the principal components analysis indica- mately linearly after the seventh principal component. Ta-
ted seven factors that explain 61.09% of the total variability ble 2 presents the defined components.
of the data. As observed, the eigenvalues decline approxi-

Table 2   Summary of the percentage of explained variance of the eigenvalues based on the principal components analysis
Component Eigenvalue % de Variance Cumulative Eigenvalue % Cumulative Variance
1 6.653 22.941 6,653 22.941
2 4.270 14.725 10,923 37.666
3 1.716 5.916 12,639 43.581
4 1.432 4.937 14,071 48.519
5 1.325 4.567 15,396 53.086
6 1.184 4.082 16,580 57.168
7 1.137 3.922 17,717 61.090

Source: Study data.

Table 2 shows that the 29 variables (questions) could be lection of questions with loadings greater than 0.38. For Kli-
reduced to seven factors that explain 61.09% of the variation ne (1994), factor loadings of greater than 0.30 are acceptable
in the original data. Factor composition was based on the se- because they explain at least 9% of the total variance.

Table 3   Factor analysis (Varimax Rotation)

Items Factors
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Integ. / Intr. Demot. Introj. Extern. Identif. Extern. Extern.
Q4-For the pleasure I obtain by engaging in interesting discussions with professors 0.545
Q12-Because education is a privilege 0.572
Q17-Because the university is a pleasure for me 0.735
Q18-Because access to knowledge takes place at the university 0.568
Q21-Because I love coming to the university 0.690
Q24-I come to the university because attendance is necessary for learning 0.542
Q26-Because studying broadens one’s horizons 0.778
Q27-I come to the university because that is what I chose for myself 0.686
Q1-Honestly, I do not know why I come to the university 0.632
Q7-I really feel that I am wasting my time at the university 0.718
Q9-I had good reasons for coming to the university, but I now have doubts about 0.566
continuing
Q13-I do not see why I must come to the university 0.782
Q16-I do not know or understand what I'm doing at the university 0.782
Q19-I do not see what difference it makes coming to the university 0.830
Q5-I come to the university to prove to myself that I am able to complete the 0.656
program
Q8-I come because that is what is expected of me 0.543
Q10-To prove to myself that I am an intelligent person 0.815
Q20-Because I want to prove to myself that I can be successful in my studies 0.665
Q3-I come to the university so that I will not fail 0.736
Q11-I come to the university because attendance is mandatory 0.699
Q14-I come to the university to obtain a diploma 0.440
Q25-If attendance was not mandatory, few students would attend classes 0.583
Q22-Because I think attendance is required for students to take the program 0.751
seriously
Q23-I want to avoid people seeing me as someone who has flunked out 0.496
Q6-I come to the university so I don't have to stay at home 0.705
Q29- Seeing my friends is the main reason why I come to the university 0.788
Q2-I come to the university because I think attendance should be mandatory 0.620
Q15-I come to the university because being successful makes me feel important 0.387
Q28-I come to the university because as long as I am studying, I do not have to work 0.708
continous

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 Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an Accounting Degree Program

continued

Items Factors
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
Integ. / Intr. Demot. Introj. Extern. Identif. Extern. Extern.
Eigenvalues 6.653 4.270 1.716 1.432 1.325 1.184 1.137
% Explained variance 22.941 14.725 5.916 4.937 4.567 4.082 3.922
% Cumulative Variance 22.941 37.666 43.581 48.519 53.086 57.168 61.090
Cronbach's alpha 0.846 0.835 0.711 0.731 0.523 0.434 0.366

Source: Study data.

The results demonstrate the existence of seven fac- Factor 3 grouped four items that refer to the "extrinsic
tors, corroborating the results of Guimarães and Bzuneck motivation by introjected regulation" type (Q5, Q8, Q10,
(2008), although the factor composition presented some and Q20). In Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008), two other
differences that should be explained in detail. variables were present (Q15 and Q23) in addition to these.
Note, initially, that Factor 1 combined items relating Factor 3 had a mean of 3.08, as shown in Table 4. Students
to "extrinsic motivation by integrated regulation" (Q12, with this type of motivation usually manage the result of
Q18, Q26, and Q27), items related to "intrinsic motiva- internal pressures, as in the example provided by Lens, Ma-
tion" (Q4, Q17, and Q21), and one item related to "ex- tos, and Vansteenkiste (2008, p. 19), in which the "[...] stu-
trinsic motivation by identified regulation." The mean dent can give his/her best in school because his/her parents
scores attributed to this factor reached 4.72 points on require it and he/she does not want to disobey them becau-
a scale of 1-7, as shown in Table 4. Therefore, it can be se otherwise he/she would feel guilty. Thus, he/she studies
inferred that the students in the study sample mostly so he/she will not feel guilty".
presented themselves as intrinsically motivated or ex- The "extrinsic motivation by external regulation" type
trinsically motivated in the most autonomous manner is split across two factors: Factors 4 and 6. Factor 4 com-
possible, i.e., in addition to being motivated to perform prised items Q3, Q11, Q14, and Q25, i.e., in addition to
academic activities from the perspective of the personal the items originally designed for this evaluation, an "ex-
benefits that may accrue from such activities, these stu- trinsic motivation by identified regulation" evaluation
dents also showed interest and enjoyment in performing item was also incorporated (Q25). As observed, all items
the tasks, thereby corroborating the studies of Guima- of this factor frequently allude to class attendance as a re-
rães and Bzuneck (2008), Falcão and Rosa (2008), and ason to come to the university. Guimarães and Bzuneck
Boruchovitch (2008). (2008) termed this factor "external regulation by atten-
However, in the study of Guimarães and Bzuneck dance". Factor 4 had the second highest mean (3.75, Table
(2008), the types "intrinsic motivation" and "extrinsic mo- 4). In other words, Factor 4 was the second factor in terms
tivation by integrated regulation" also had the highest me- of the number of students. In the study conducted by Gui-
ans, at 4.44 and 5.43, respectively. Similarly, in Falcão and marães and Bzuneck (2008), this factor was ranked fifth,
Rosa (2008), the means of these two factors were as follows: with a mean of 2.97, indicating that attendance constitu-
"intrinsic motivation" - 5.74 and "extrinsic motivation by tes a strong (extrinsic) reason why Accounting Sciences
integrated regulation" - 5.66. This suggests that Accounting students attend university. Accordingly, the findings of
Sciences students classified as Factor 1 in the present study Prates, Joly, Dias, and Almeida (2011, p. 104) show that
displayed motivation with lower levels of autonomy than "the more competent the university student is, the less he/
previously surveyed students (including those enrolled she is motivated by social rewards or just by school atten-
in management programs). This may be one cause of the dance and the less demotivated he/she feels."
allocation of questions related to intrinsic motivation along Factor 6, also related to "extrinsic motivation by exter-
with questions related to "extrinsic motivation by integra- nal regulation", incorporated only two items (Q6 and Q29).
ted regulation". Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008) defined this factor as "ex-
Factor 2, regarding "demotivation", presents the same ternal regulation by social interaction". Factor 6 had the
items (Q1, Q7, Q9, Q13, Q16, and Q19) listed in Guimarães second lowest mean (2.05). The same was found in Guima-
and Bzuneck (2008), demonstrating that these items effec- rães and Bzuneck (2008), where the mean was 2.03, (Table
tively identify students’ lack of motivation. Factor 2 has the 4), indicating that few students come to the university due
lowest mean (1.51 points on a scale of 1 to 7, as shown in to that type of motivation.
Table 4) among the seven factors resulting from the study, Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008) mention that the
i.e., few students identify themselves with the "demotiva- "extrinsic motivation by identified regulation" type was
tion" category. This finding is consistent with the results unable to be analyzed due to the exclusion of items that
found by Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008), in which "demo- did not reach the stipulated factor loading or that did
tivation" also earned the lowest mean among the evaluated not contain other factors. In this study, similarly, Fac-
factors (1.50), and those of Falcão and Rosa (2008), whose tor 5 comprised only two items (Q22 and Q23), the first
research identified a mean score of the factor related to "de- being related to "extrinsic motivation by identified regu-
motivation" of 1.56. lation" and the second to "extrinsic motivation by intro-

R. Cont. Fin. – USP, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 62, p. 162-173, maio/jun./jul./ago. 2013 169
 Edvalda Araújo Leal, Gilberto José Miranda & Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

jected regulation". The mean score achieved by Factor 5 Alpha internal consistency coefficient was applied. The in-
was 2.47 (Table 4). dices of the first four factors found (Table 3) are considered
Finally, Factor 7 grouped together items Q2, Q15, and acceptable when evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. Howe-
Q28, each of which relates to a different motivation type. ver, Factors 5, 6, and 7 had low internal consistency due to
Q2 refers to "extrinsic motivation by identified regula- the limited number of items grouped around these factors,
tion", Q15 refers to "extrinsic motivation by introjected thus preventing further analysis.
regulation", and Q28 refers to "extrinsic motivation by ex- Once the composition of each subscale had been
ternal regulation". This combination of items in Factor 7 determined according to the results of the factor analy-
does not allow us to establish a clear characterization of sis, the mean performance, minimum score, maximum
the factor. The mean score achieved by Factor 7 was 2.63 score, and standard deviation of the participants were
(Table 4). calculated for the seven evaluation subscales, as shown
To evaluate the reliability of the factors, the Cronbach's in Table 4.

Table 4   Performance analysis in evaluating motivation types

Factors Minimum Maximum Mean Standard deviation
F1 Integrated / Intrinsic 1.00 7.00 4.72 1.86
F2 Demotivated 1.00 7.00 1.51 1.20
F3 Introjected 1.00 7.00 3.08 1.93
F4 External 1.00 7.00 3.75 2.05
F5 Identified 1.00 7.00 2.47 1.78
F6 External 1.00 7.00 2.05 1.52
F7 Identified / Introjected / External 1.00 6.67 2.63 1.48

Source: Study data.

It can be noted therefore that the Accounting Scien- (final year). Note that at the start of the program, stu-
ces students studied have a self-determined motivation dents had higher autonomous motivation levels (intrin-
profile because Factor 1 had the largest mean ("intrin- sic, integrated, and identified) and that the situation is
sic motivation" and "extrinsic motivation by integrated reversed over time, i.e., non-autonomous motivation
regulation"), although the means obtained were lower types (introjected, external, and demotivated) are hi-
than those determined in previous studies (Guimarães gher in the final years of the program. According to
& Bzuneck, 2008; Falcão & Rosa, 2008). The second hi- Guimarães and Bzuneck (2008), the importance of
ghest mean was obtained by "extrinsic motivation by achieving goals supports conducting school activities
external regulation", reinforcing evidence that Accoun- in integrated regulation. In this context, the concern of
ting Sciences students have less autonomous extrinsic Accounting Sciences students is directed toward obtai-
motivations than students in other programs. ning a diploma and the possibilities provided thereby,
Figure 3 shows a comparison between the motiva- namely, a job, better pay, high quality of life, and pres-
tion means of freshmen (first year) and senior students tige, among others.

4.95

4.43
4.07

3.19 3.19
3.05 2.78
2.67 2.48
2.41
2.11

1.66 1.67
1.40

F1 Integ./Intr. F5 Identif. F3 Introj. F4 External F7 External F6 External F2 Demotiv.

(autonomous) (moder. autonomous) (moder. controlled) (controlled) (controlled) (controlled) (absence)

1st Year 5th Year

Figure 3   Motivation of freshmen versus senior students

Source: Study data.

170 R. Cont. Fin. – USP, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 62, p. 162-173, maio/jun./jul./ago. 2013
 Self-Determination Theory: An Analysis of Student Motivation in an Accounting Degree Program

The results showed that "extrinsic motivation by exter- higher education; thus, it is possible that they would need
nal regulation" is higher for students in later academic ter- longer to complete the program. Students also drop out,
ms than for freshman students, i.e., students in later terms which is the most likely cause for the decrease and also the
perform an activity because they feel pressured by some- most disturbing. All of these factors can affect Accounting
thing or someone to do it. These results were not consistent Sciences students’ motivation in general, as well as in the
with those obtained by Oliveira et al. (2010), in which the institution researched.
percentages found for this type of motivation were higher Other factors may also affect the motivation of university
for students of earlier terms. students. Currently, the reasons for the expansion of higher
Cunha and Pinto (2009) argue that university expan- education in Brazil and the forms of access to it are diverse.
sion implies the arrival of increasingly heterogeneous stu- For example, there are quotas for vacancies due to affirmati-
dents in terms of cognitive styles, prior schooling, motiva- ve action policies aimed at improving access for historically
tions, and expectations; it also implies a diversification of marginalized population segments. Black and indigenous
ages and an increasing presence of working students who people are included in these segments, for whom vacancy
are studying part-time at the university, generally at night. quotas in public education institutions are reserved, provi-
Likewise, Miranda (2011) listed possible causes for a decre- ded they meet the criteria of low income and a compatible
ase in the number of students graduating from Accounting educational trajectory (Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pes-
Sciences programs. These include the fact that people who quisas Educacionais AnísioTeixeira [Anísio Teixeira Natio-
left school early (mostly workers) are beginning to enroll in nal Institute for Educational Studies and Research], 2006).

5 Final Considerations

Given the significance of motivation as a way of influen- Gomes, and Ribeiro Filho (2007). These authors support
cing students to increase their involvement in learning acti- the hypothesis that the main reasons that lead Accounting
vities, the present study aimed to evaluate the motivation of Sciences students to modify their expectations of the pro-
Accounting Sciences students from a Brazilian public uni- gram are the didactic deficiency of the professors and pro-
versity in light of the SDT, based on Guimarães and Bzu- gram limitations.
neck (2008), which surveyed the psychometric properties In this sense, it was found that environmental fac-
of the AMS. tors affect the intrinsic motivation of individuals becau-
The results of the present study were analyzed using se behavior is driven by contexts that provide support
exploratory factor analysis, which yielded seven factors for psychological needs, demanding autonomy, compe-
from the 29 variables studied; these factors explained tence, and connectedness of relationship that can vary
61.09% of the total variability of the data. Items for the according to the level and type of motivation (Sobral,
evaluation of extrinsic motivation by integrated regu- 2003).
lation and items related to intrinsic motivation were The findings of the present study can therefore provi-
grouped around a single factor (Factor 1), and this fac- de a substantial contribution to the teaching of accoun-
tor showed strong internal consistency (alpha, 0.84). We ting in that they highlight the importance of the teacher
note that despite the autonomous style of behavior regu- understanding motivational processes and their rele-
lation in integrated regulation, the focus remains on the vance in the classroom. In the university environment,
personal benefits arising from performing the activity students’ behavior can be regulated by several factors,
(Guimarães & Bzuneck, 2008). This means that the ex- such as social influences, internal pressures, attendance,
pectations of Accounting Sciences students when ente- or even being compelled to attend classes in search of
ring university are predominantly linked to professional interaction.
benefits, and the program is simply a means to achieve Knowing the motivations of students means that tea-
a desired end. chers and institutions can act to stimulate the students
A rich diversity of learning motivations can be ob- and maintain motivation levels throughout the program,
served among the studied students. Comparisons be- according to the results found in the present study. This is
tween the different variables comprising the present especially true when there are clues that the didactic and
study revealed, on the one hand, students who were an- pedagogical skills of teachers may be related to student
xious to deepen their level of knowledge or achieve an motivation. An important action, therefore, would be to
adequate basis for the performance of their future roles invest in teacher training, as mentioned in previous studies
and, on the other hand, students who were concerned on Accounting education (Miranda, Casa Nova, & Cornac-
only with getting a diploma or who were interested in chione, 2012; Miranda, 2011; Njoku, Heijden, & Inanga,
attending classes simply to meet attendance require- 2010; Pierre et al., 2009).
ments. The findings also suggest the need for new methods
The level of motivational autonomy decreases over the of classroom education that are capable of streamlining
course of the program. One of the possible causes for this the teaching and learning process by involving students
may be linked to the didactic and pedagogical qualifica- in the design of the content to be studied in the clas-
tions of the professors, as emphasized by Lagioia, Santiago, sroom. This is important due to the inclusion in the

R. Cont. Fin. – USP, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 62, p. 162-173, maio/jun./jul./ago. 2013 171
 Edvalda Araújo Leal, Gilberto José Miranda & Carlos Roberto Souza Carmo

university environment of increasingly heterogeneous ting students' motivation, thereby contributing to edu-
students across different generations who are increa- cational debate. Furthermore, it is suggested that the
singly connected to new technologies. These factors causes of these students’ declining motivation as the
call for the implementation of new education strategies program progresses be explored together with the mo-
that motivate and engage Accounting Sciences students tivational effects of using different teaching modalities.
in the learning process. Finally, as suggested by Boruchovitch (2008), there is a
New and more extensive research is thus needed. It need for studies using qualitative methodologies, such
is suggested, accordingly, that this study be replicated as the observation of student behavior, to better un-
in other contexts, especially in the Accounting Scien- derstand the phenomenon of motivation, given that
ce programs of private higher education institutions to previous studies have primarily used quantitative ap-
compare results and thus establish trends on Accoun- proaches.

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