MOTIVATION, INTEREST, AND

POSITIVE
AFFECT IN TRADITIONAL AND
NONTRADITIONAL
UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION
AFFECTIVE AND MOTIVATIONAL COMPONENTS OF
ACADEMIC LIFE FOR TRADITIONAL
AND NONTRADITIONAL UNIVERSITY
UNDERGRADUATES
TRADITIONAL NONTRADITIONAL
 21 years  28 years

 Lower levels of intrinsic  higher levels of intrinsic motivation

for learning
motivation for learning
 approach learning in the context of
 peer-related activities life application
 more likely to integrate new learning
with various life.
 having more extracurricular stressors
(e.g., familial responsibilities)
 persist in their commitment to attain
a degree.
A self-selection process retains only
those individuals with high self-efficacy, a
strong intrinsic motivation to learn,
and the capacity to commit to a long-term
engagement to return to university.
University attendance is a normative
sieve for the younger adult
authentic or “free choice” projects
and inauthentic or “should do” projects.
CONCLUSION

 All current students, whether traditional or nontraditional or somewhere in

 between, will eventually face the challenges of middle and later life
development.
 The exercise of building a stronger positive correlation between age,
motivation,
 and positive affect within the university undergraduate environment will
promote
 resilience in students.
 DOROTHEA BYE is a nontraditional graduate student in psychology at
Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada