Social support by teacher and motivational profile of Higher Education students

Abstract

: Currently, educational trends show how cognitive and affective-motivational integration are presented as key factors in the students’ learning process. Therefore, the social support that students receive from teachers can play an important role in motivation towards learning, developing intrinsic motivations which favor their commitment. This study presents the validation of a measuring instrument into Spanish context about how the university students perceive the teacher social support and how it relates to motivational profiles. The sample had 396 university students (305 men and 91 women), 22.87 years average age, to whom social support and academic motivation were measured. After the analyses, The Interpersonal Behavior Scale showed adequate psychometric measures. Three motivational profiles were found. The data showed that students with a high self-determined profile present higher values in social support than those with a less self-determined profile. It is expected these results support the evidence to train motivating teachers related to a positive impact on the students’ learning process.