Profiles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: A person-centered approach to motivation and achievement in middle school

The present study was designed to identify and evaluate naturally-occurring combinations of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Cluster analysis revealed four distinct motivational profiles based on a sample of middle-school students (N = 343): those with high levels of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (high quantity), low levels of both types of motivation (low quantity), high intrinsic coupled with low extrinsic motivation (good quality) and low intrinsic coupled with high extrinsic motivation (poor quality). Across two time points, students in the good quality cluster received higher grades than their peers in other clusters with poorer quality motivation, even if that motivation was present in high quantities. An examination of shifts in motivational profiles over the course of a school year revealed an intriguing balance of stability and change. Consistent with variable-centered research, movement tended to be away from the good quality and high quantity clusters and toward the poor quality and low quantity clusters.