Academic self-efficacy on undergraduate intrinsic motivation: Moderating role of gender

Individual self-efficacy varies from person to person, especially by gender; previous research has shown that male students outperform female students in economics, science, computer, and math. There were inconsistencies between gender-affected self-efficacy, discipline, and motivation. Furthermore, a dearth of research was carried out in the Sri Lankan context. This study, therefore, examines the academic self-efficacy on the intrinsic motivation of first-year undergraduate management students at the Trincomalee Campus, Eastern University. The objectives of the research are to find out the influence of academic self-efficacy on intrinsic motivation and gender moderates the relationship between academic self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation of undergraduates. This is quantitative research. The conceptual variables are performance accomplishment, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, physiological emotional state, gender, and intrinsic motivation. Selected a hundred samples from the 2019/2020 academic year on the equal basis of sex and used the analytical methods are bivariate, independent sample T-test, and multivariate analysis. According to the study’s findings, gender plays a moderator between academic self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, the independent T-test revealed that female students had a relatively greater influence than males on performance accomplishment, vicarious experience as well as physiological emotional state. In the practical implication, previous research has examined the different disciplines of students’ self-efficacy in different countries. This study particularly in the Sri Lankan context, and the contribution of undergraduate management students is novel.