Abstract

SANCHEZ DE GALLARDO, Marhilde  and  PIRELA DE FARIA, Ligia. Social causes and academic performance in college students: Case: Universidad del Zulia. Counseling specialization. Investigación y Postgrado [online]. 2009, vol.24, n.3, pp.87-114. ISSN 1316-0087.

The object of this study was to describe the social motivations of the students of Education specialized in Counseling from the Universidad del Zulia and to establish correlations with the academic performance, establishing as a purpose to prove the link between these two variables. The research is characterized by being descriptive, correlational, and a fieldwork. It established collective applications of the instruments Motivation to Achievement (MA), Motivation by Affiliation (MAFI) and Motivation of the Social Power (MSP) to 388 students from all the semesters with a 21 year-old average. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The averages of motivation to achievement and motivation by affiliation were in a high level and the motivation to social power located at a medium level; in the three cases with a medium dispersion in the ratings. The correlation between motivation to achievement and academic performance was 0.37 (positive medium), with power -0.02 (null) and -0.18 with affiliation (negative low).

Keywords : social motivations; academic performance; students.