A meta-analysis of autonomous and controlled forms of teacher motivation

Abstract

Self-determination theory (SDT) is one of the most extensively applied frameworks to understand relations involving autonomous and controlled motivations in educational settings. However, a cumulative assessment of SDT's predictive validity for important teacher outcomes has never been conducted. Our study presents an analysis of the antecedents and consequences of autonomous and controlled teacher motivation by drawing on an overall database of 1117 correlation coefficients across 102 independent samples. Regarding antecedents, psychometric meta-analysis results indicate that workplace context and individual difference variables were generally positively and negatively associated with autonomous and controlled teacher motivation, respectively. Similar results were observed for relations involving basic need satisfaction and both forms of teacher motivation. Regarding outcomes, results indicate that autonomous teacher motivation is positively associated with teacher well-being, job satisfaction, and autonomy-supportive in-role functioning and negatively associated with teacher distress and burnout. In contrast, results for controlled teacher motivation were generally in the opposite direction. Exploratory moderator analyses showed that results were generally not moderated by educational setting or the type of teaching occupation, but some associations were moderated by teacher age and career tenure. Meta-analytic path analyses further showed that teachers' psychological need satisfaction was associated with teacher well-being, distress, and autonomy-supportive teaching indirectly through autonomous motivation. Substantially attenuated indirect effects were observed when controlled teacher motivation was the intervening variable. Overall, our results add credence to the claim that SDT may offer a fruitful perspective for predicting teacher- and student-related outcomes. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for future research are discussed.