Learning strategies and procrastination as a function of need satisfaction and autonomous motivation: A diary study

Abstract Within the framework of Self‐Determination Theory (SDT), basic psychological need satisfaction predicts quality of motivation which in turn predicts study efforts. Although studies focusing on interpersonal differences have repeatedly shown this sequence of relations, only a few have examined its stability at the intra‐personal level. In this diary study, we recruited 141 university students ( M age = 20.80, SD = 2.20 years) to investigate the degree of confluence among week‐to‐week need satisfaction, quality of motivation, learning strategies, and procrastination for four weeks. Multilevel structural equation modelling showed that need satisfaction covaried positively with autonomous motivation. In turn, week‐to‐week autonomous motivation predicted positively week‐to‐week critical thinking and effort regulation and negatively procrastination. These relations emerged even after controlling for gender, age, and study hours per week. Further, contextual autonomous motivation predicted higher mean levels of critical thinking and effort regulation and lower ones of procrastination. Interestingly, a cross‐level interaction supported the sensitivity hypothesis as the negative relation between need satisfaction and controlled motivation was only true among students who were high in contextual (pre‐diary assessed) controlled motivation. These findings highlight the importance of contextual motivation and the need to establish academic environments that consistently satisfy students' psychological needs, thus promoting the quality of motivation and adaptive learning strategies.