The present study empirically tested, whether self-determination offered within a bachelor program is associated with differences in perceived autonomy and students’ satisfaction and their test anxiety. Based on the self-determination theory and the control-value model of achievement emotions we predicted that within programs with lower possibilities for self-determination perceived autonomy would be lower and – in a next step – students’ satisfaction would be lower and their test anxiety would be higher as compared to students from a program offering higher degrees of self-determination. By means of a document analysis we identified two different study programs with large similarities in the programs’ content but big differences in the autonomy offered to the students. We used self-ratings concerning perceived autonomy, satisfaction and test anxiety from 236 students from these two programs to test our assumptions. The analysis confirmed both: the expected differences in the mean levels of the variables as well as the postulated chain of variables. We discuss the findings concerning the potential of self-determination for enhancing students’ satisfaction and reducing test anxiety.
Dieser Eintrag ist Teil der Universitätsbibliographie.
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