Dataset for Academic Identity, Culture and Motivation Study

Academic motivation is one of the most well-researched predictors of academic performance and achievement, and there is a large amount of scholarship that show varying factors influence one’s motivation. However, the literature is less clear about the role and interplay of identity factors in predicting academic motivation, especially for Black students. This study assessed the moderating effect of cultural identity on the relationship between academic identity and academic motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic). The sample included 174 Black college students who completed self-report measures on the variables of interest. Results indicated positive relationships between all combinations of the variables of interest, and support was found for cultural identity as a moderator between academic identity and both types of academic motivation. Results found that higher levels of academic identity and cultural identity predicted higher levels of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Further, a strong cultural identity served as a buffer for students who had weaker levels of academic identity. Thus, those students with weaker academic identities still maintained higher levels of academic motivation if their Afrocultural identity was strong. The implications of this work spur further explorations of cultural identity as a protective force in Black academic outcomes.