Development of an instrument for measuring university students’ motivation for sustainability engagement using self-determination theory

Abstract

Sustainability education has become an important focus of higher education globally. However, the factors influencing students’ motivation to engage in sustainability-related activities, both within formal educational settings and in their broader communities, remain relatively underexplored. A key challenge in this area is the availability of suitable instruments for assessing the different forms of motivation that underpin sustainability engagement. This study reviews existing survey instruments grounded in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and describes the development of an integrated SDT-based survey instrument designed for use in higher education sustainability contexts. Drawing on SDT, the instrument assesses a range of motivational regulatory styles, from amotivation and externally regulated forms of motivation to integrated and intrinsic motivation, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of students’ ­motivation for sustainability engagement. The 24-item Likert-type questionnaire was piloted and applied with students from two research-intensive universities in Australia. The instrument demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.873). Findings revealed considerable variation in students’ motivational regulatory styles, highlighting the coexistence of both controlled and autonomous motivations for sustainability engagement. The study contributes a context-specific tool for examining motivation in sustainability education and identifies opportunities for future research on fostering sustained student engagement in sustainability-related actions.