Structural Relationships between Academic Motivation, Procrastination and Perfectionism: A Modelling Study

The ever-increasing demands for a better and deeper understanding of the nature of learning has urged researchers to examine the factors affecting the learning process. The purpose of this study is to determine whether a model can be formed on the ground of the structural relationship pattern between motivation, procrastination and perfectionism. The participants consisted of 210 students studying at a state university in Istanbul. As data collection tools, Academic Motivation Scale, Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale and Aitken Academic Procrastination Inventory were administered to the study group. Data obtained were analysed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 21.0 software program through Structural Equation Modelling. Results have indicated that maladaptive perfectionism, as is the case with procrastination, is affected by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as well as amotivation. On the other hand, adaptive perfectionism is affected by intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In the light of the theoretical background, the suggested model was tested and after necessary path analysis, it was revised and the structural relationship pattern among motivation, procrastination and perfectionism was suggested as a model.