A study of the relationship between personality characteristics, selfefficacy and control source, and achievement motivation

The present study aims to investigate the relationship between personality characteristics, self-efficacyand locus of control, on the one side, and the motivation for achievement, on the other, a case study ofthe students studying at bachelor’s level at Shahid Chamran University of Ahwaz. The statisticalpopulation of this study includes all the BA.BS students of Shahid Chamran University in the 2015-2016educational year. The statistical sample of the study comprises 300 students (150 male and 150 female).The sampling method is stager and om sampling and students are selected from different departments ofShahid Chamran University. The data collection instruments include five-factor questionnaire calledNEO (NEO-FFI), achievement motivation questionnaire (AMQ), Adams and Sharer’s self-efficacyquestionnaire and Rotter’s scale of locus of control. The results of a simple correlation analysis revealedthat personality characteristics (agreement, extrovertist, openness, conscientiousness) have a meaningful(significant) and positive relationship with motivation for achievement, while neurosis has a significantand negative relationship with this construct. Both self-efficacy and locus of control are positively andmeaningfully related to students’ motivation for achievement. Also, the result of regression analysesindicate that self-efficacy and locus of control play a vital role in predicting students’ motivation forachievement, personality characteristics (agreement, extrovertist, openness, conscientiousness andneurosis), and among the above-mentioned variables, self-efficacy, conscientiousness and locus ofcontrol are recorded the best predictors for motivation of achievement.

Keywords:

Motivation For Achievement , Personality Characteristics , Self-Efficacy , Locus Of Control