A Study of the Relationship between Motivation, Self-concept and Academic Achievement of Students at a University in Limpopo Province, South Africa

The main purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between motivation, self-concept and academic achievement. In addition, gender differences between self-concept, motivation and academic achievement were investigated. The study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional survey design. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect data from a randomly selected sample of second year students representing four schools at the university. The study found that there were significant correlations between self-concept, motivation and academic achievement of students. It was also found that female students are significantly more motivated than their male counterparts. The study concluded that the findings justify the importance of self-concept and motivation to academic achievement, and some recommendations were made regarding the enhancement of motivation and self-concept.