Narcissism, Collaborative Learning, and Academic Motivation Among University Students

Abstract

Academic motivation plays an important role in students' involvement in learning and their academic functioning. The present study explored the correlation between Narcissistic traits, collaborative learning behavior and academic motivation of university students in Pakistan. It also explored if collaborative learning behavior was an intermediate variable between narcissistic traits and academic motivation. A quantitative correlational design was used. The data were collected from 250 university students within the ages of 18-26 years obtained by purposive sampling. The participants were asked to fill out the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), the Collaborative Learning Behavior Scale (CLBS), and the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) and a demographic information form. The following descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha reliability analysis, Pearson product-moment correlation, linear regression and mediation analysis using PROCESS Macro were used. Academic motivation was positively correlated with narcissistic traits (r = .60, p < .001), and negatively correlated with collaborative learning behavior (r = -.67, p < .001). Collaborative learning behavior was also negatively related to academic motivation (r = -.63, p < .001). The regression analysis revealed that the combined effect of narcissism and collaborative learning behavior on academic motivation accounted for 45% of the variance, F(2, 247) = 104.15, p < .001. The results of the mediation analysis revealed that the connection between Narcissism and Academic Motivation was totally mediated by collaborative learning behavior. The results confirm the role of interpersonal learning experiences in explaining the relationship between academic motivation and personality traits of student university learners.