Motivational profiles regarding biology amongst German upper secondary students and associations with perceived basic need satisfaction and pressure

Within self-determination theory, different operationalizations of motivation co-exist. Person-centered approaches, such as Latent Profile Analysis, are employed to investigate the nuances of motivation and its association with other learning variables. This is particularly advantageous, as profile analyses acknowledge that different forms of motivational regulation are not mutually exclusive and can co-occur within individuals. This study explores different motivational profiles among German upper-secondary level biology students (<i>N</i> = 1,419, 17.14 ± 1.48 years, 65% female) and their relationship with perceived basic need satisfaction and pressure. Despite the importance of perceived pressure in determining the quality of experience, few studies have focused on the student perspective. Using Latent Profile Analysis, four motivational profiles were identified: low motivation, average motivation, moderately self-determined motivation, and self-determined motivation. Follow-up analysis of distinct variables indicate a trend that higher proportions of self-determined regulations within a profile were associated with greater perceived need satisfaction and lower pressure. However, students in the average motivation profile reported more perceived pressure without simultaneously reporting lower need satisfaction. Additionally, not the average but the low motivation students reported the lowest levels of perceived autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Thus, it is not the presence of controlled but the absence of self-determined qualities that appears to be associated with low levels of basic need satisfaction.