What Motivates You to Study and Why?
Posted by Strategic Communications, JGI Group on 16 Jan 2023

The term 'motivation' is derived from a Latin word meaning "to move." But what causes someone to be motivated to study has been a big question since time immemorial.

Explore the sources of motivation for studying and understand why it's important. Find your inner drive to excel in education.

So, who is a motivated student? Someone who will do their homework without any external influence or push will go the extra mile to complete their assignments and take active participation in classroom discussions without being prompted. But, most importantly, a motivated student views their bad grade card as an opportunity to learn and improve, not an academic failure.

Now, the next question pops up – what motivates a student to study and why? If you are looking for an answer to this question, my dear reader, you are at the right place!

Students may be motivated for several reasons, such as their interest in a topic or subject, their desire to impress their parents, teachers, or peers, prior success in a specific subject or topic, or the inherent desire to excel in academics. However, motivation creates a long-lasting impact when children carry healthy self-images, self-confidence in their skills and abilities, and patience in solving problems.

According to several researchers, motivation to study can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation refers to the factors inside you that drive you to the study table on your own. Extrinsic factors are external rewards that tempt you to study well, such as a topper badge, respect, recognition, a good job, your parents promising you your favourite thing, etc.

Recently, research has discovered certain root cause factors that motivate a student to study, some of which we have described below,

The joy of success and achievement

Nothing gives us more joy than we accomplish a sense of achievement of our goals. For motivated students, these can be the good grades they aim for. These grades boost the self-confidence of the students and increase their self-esteem. It works as a great incentive to work harder and score better.

Earn praise from others

If you are a people pleaser who wants to please your parents and teachers, then getting good grades is an easy solution. Sometimes, we don't like letting our parents down and making them happy. This keeps us motivated to pursue our academic targets. After all, we all like to be appreciated as smart and intelligent!

Beat the Competition

Some of us are born with a competitive spirit to perform the best in class, year, or field. This also drives our motivation mantra to give 100 percent in any field or area we like to excel at.

Engage with your self-development

We all make mistakes, and at times, we fail too. However, working continuously to improve ourselves motivates us to give our best every time. Therefore, motivation can also creep in a while trying to create the best and improved version of yourself for long-term success.

Advance your academic goals

Passing the school is not enough. We all have a goal in life that we would like to achieve, some of which require strong academic credentials. For example, if you want to become a scientist or a doctor, you must have a good academic scorecard. Therefore, having a long-term goal in life can also motivate our academic goals.

After all, working towards the fulfillment of our cherished dream is often one of the strongest and most reliable motivations to study one can have.

To conclude, although motivation is everywhere, there are certain external or internal factors that motivate us to perform best in our academics.