Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Education, Aleksandër Moisiu University, Durrës, Albania.
Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Philology and Education, Bedër University, Tirana, Albania.
Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, China.
Xiangya School of Nursing, Central South University, Changsha, China; Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
Study of Nursing, University of Applied Sciences Bjelovar, Bjelovar, Croatia.
Baltic Film, Media and Arts School, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.
Baltic Film, Media and Arts School, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.
Baltic Film, Media and Arts School, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia.
Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Department of Psychology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Chair of Educational Psychology, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Department of Educational Studies, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Faculty of Education, University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland.
Faculty of Education, University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland.
Faculty of Education, University of Akureyri, Akureyri, Iceland.
Department of Global Education, Tsuru University, Tsuru, Japan.
Career Center, Osaka University, Osaka University, Suita, Japan.
Graduate School of Education, Osaka Kyoiku University, Kashiwara, Japan.
Department of Social Work, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Pristina 'Hasan Prishtina', Pristina, Kosovo.
Department of Social Work, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Pristina 'Hasan Prishtina', Pristina, Kosovo.
Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Klaipėda University, Klaipėda, Lithuania.
Geography Department, Junior College, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.
Institute of Family Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, North Macedonia.
Institute of Family Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, North Macedonia.
Institute of Family Studies, Faculty of Philosophy, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Skopje, North Macedonia.
Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Science, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Faculty of Historical and Pedagogical Sciences, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland.
Faculty of Educational Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
Faculty of Educational Studies, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland.
CERNESIM Environmental Research Center, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Iași, România.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Department, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Iași, România.
Faculty of Social Studies, Penn State University, State College, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Department for Teacher Education, Centre for Teacher Education, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, higher educational institutions worldwide switched to emergency distance learning in early 2020. The less structured environment of distance learning forced students to regulate their learning and motivation more independently. According to self-determination theory (SDT), satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and social relatedness affects intrinsic motivation, which in turn relates to more active or passive learning behavior. As the social context plays a major role for basic need satisfaction, distance learning may impair basic need satisfaction and thus intrinsic motivation and learning behavior. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic need satisfaction and procrastination and persistence in the context of emergency distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-sectional study. We also investigated the mediating role of intrinsic motivation in this relationship. Furthermore, to test the universal importance of SDT for intrinsic motivation and learning behavior under these circumstances in different countries, we collected data in Europe, Asia and North America. A total of N = 15,462 participants from Albania, Austria, China, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Kosovo, Lithuania, Poland, Malta, North Macedonia, Romania, Sweden, and the US answered questions regarding perceived competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, persistence, and sociodemographic background. Our results support SDT's claim of universality regarding the relation between basic psychological need fulfilment, intrinsic motivation, procrastination, and persistence. However, whereas perceived competence had the highest direct effect on procrastination and persistence, social relatedness was mainly influential via intrinsic motivation.
PLOS , 2021. Vol. 16, no 10, article id e0257346