Relationships among instructor autonomy support, and university students' learning approaches, perceived professional competence, and life satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships among instructor autonomy support for student learning, and students' motivational characteristics, learning approaches, perceptions of career competence and life satisfaction. Participated 1048 students from Spanish universities with ages between 18, and 57 years. A Structural equation modeling revealed a relationship between instructor autonomy support for student learning with students' basic psychological need satisfaction. As a result, students' basic need satisfaction was related to their intrinsic motivation, and to a deeper learning approach. These educational outcomes contributed to explain students'perceived professional competence, and life satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of student choice, and decision-making in the learning process as a means to facilitating deeper learning, stronger feelings of professional competence, and enhanced well-being.

From Autonomy Support and Grit to Satisfaction With Life Through Self-Determined Motivation and Group Cohesion in Higher Education.

Using the Self-Determination Theory as a framework, this study tests the predictive capacity of the teacher's interpersonal style of autonomy support at a higher education institution, and the grit on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, intrinsic motivation, group cohesion, and life satisfaction in university students. A sample composed of 489 Colombian university students (381 women and 108 men), aged between 18 and 41 years (M = 21.93; DT = 3.58), was used; they filled in the questionnaires that measured the variables of interest. After the analysis of structural equations, the results showed that the perception of teaching style of autonomy support and the grit positively predicted the basic psychological needs and these predicted the intrinsic motivation, which in turn predicted group cohesion and satisfaction with life. The model describes the possible importance of promoting the teacher's interpersonal style of autonomy support within the university setting in the search for satisfaction with life along with the active role of the student through the mediation of the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, increased quality motivation, and high group cohesion.