The effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on students learning effectiveness. Exploring the moderating role of gender

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual motivation – both intrinsic and extrinsic – and learning effectiveness; moreover, this paper also investigates whether this relationship is moderated by gender. Design/methodology/approach A quasi-experimental study was conducted. The research measured intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and learning effectiveness among 1,491 students attending a course-work in informatics and computer basics in three different contexts: Burundi, Morocco and India. Findings Findings suggest that intrinsic motivation has a positive effect on learning effectiveness, while extrinsic motivation has a negative effect on learning effectiveness. It also shows that gender has a moderating role. Originality/value This research offers interesting contributions to the extant literature: first, it is the first to consider the moderating role of gender in the relationship between students’ motivation and learning effectiveness; second, it proposes the analysis of a rather broad data set with 1,491 students, thus providing strong empirical research based on a consistent data set.