Interrelation of factors associated with intrinsic motivation

The purpose of the study was to develop and test a structural model of intr insic motivation and to examine the integration of four variables, two alre ady addressed in the research literature and two relatively new to it. The first two include self-efficacy and value, and the two remaining include pr ocrastination and vocational certainty. A sample of 411 students enrolled i n business administration, psychology and chemistry at the licentiate level in Mexico's National University participated as subjects. The study involv ed the application of seven scales, six of which were expressly developed f or the present study through reliability and factor analyses. A structural equation analysis conducted through the Amos 4 program revealed goodness of fit of the model. Results showed that self-efficacy had a direct and subst antial effect on intrinsic motivation as well as indirect effects through t he mediation of other variables. In addition, value and vocational certaint y had significant effects on intrinsic motivation. The proportion of explai ned variability for intrinsic motivation was .34. Differences between self- efficacy and intrinsic motivation scores represent the perceived difficulti es in the students' respective study area or career.