Abstract
PurposeThis study aimed to determine how the general course experiences of dental students in Chile and the satisfaction or frustration of their basic psychological needs influenced their passion for studying, and how passion influenced students’ study strategies.MethodsA correlational cross-sectional study was conducted at 3 Chilean dental schools between April and June 2018, in which 935 undergraduate students participated. Students responded to Spanish-language versions of 4 psychological scale tools: the Course Experience Questionnaire, the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfac¬tion and Frustration Scale, the Passion Scale, and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire. Data were analysed with bivariate correlations and structural equation modelling, controlling for age, gender, year of study, and type of university.ResultsStudents’ general course experiences (i.e., good teaching, clear goals and standards, appropriate assessment, and appropriate workload) positively predicted basic need satisfaction and negatively predicted need frustration. Need satisfaction positively predicted passion in students, with stronger scores for harmonious passion. Basic need frustration positively predicted obsessive passion and negatively predicted harmonious passion. Harmonious passion positively predicted deep study strategies and negatively predicted surface study strategies, while obsessive passion positively predicted both deep and surface study strategies.ConclusionDental students’ optimal course experiences positively influenced the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, which favoured harmonious over obsessive passion. In turn, harmonious over obsessive passion positively influenced deep study strategies. Therefore, efforts should be made to provide course experiences that support students’ basic needs and harmonious passion for studying, both in classroom and chair-side teaching.
Highlights
On one end there is obsessive passion, in which someone engages in a passionate activity mainly due to certain contingencies or external reasons that lead to uncontrollable over-engagement and rigid persistence
The 2 exceptions were the subscales of appropriate assessment and appropriate workload, both of which were below, but close to, 0.60. These were included in the analyses considering their complexity and the fact that they contained few items, which might have inherently worked against their reliability
These findings are consistent with research conducted in other educational domains showing that students’ harmonious or obsessive passion is influenced by how they internalise their reasons to engage in activities, and by the satisfaction or frustration of their basic psychological needs [7]
Summary
On one end there is obsessive passion, in which someone engages in a passionate activity mainly due to certain contingencies or external reasons (e.g., pressure, ego-involvement, social acceptance, self-esteem) that lead to uncontrollable over-engagement and rigid persistence. There is harmonious passion, in which someone engages in a passionate activity, mainly due to personal endorsement, choice, volition, and valuing the activity. This passion is present even without any associated external pressures, leading to flexible engagement and positive consequences during and after the activity (e.g., concentration, flow, positive affect, satisfaction). A dental student harmoniously passionate about studying oral surgery might plan his or her working hours to leave time for other activities, resulting in full immersion while studying and while taking part in other activities
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