Latent profile analysis and associated factors of academic motivation among master's nursing students: a cross-sectional study

Academic motivation is a critical factor for ensuring the training quality of master's nursing students. Affected by individual backgrounds and psychological characteristics, academic motivation within this group exhibits heterogeneity. This study adopted latent profile analysis to identify the latent classes of academic motivation among master's nursing students and analyze the factors associated with each class.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 390 master's nursing students from 15 universities in China between November 2024 and February 2025. The sociodemographic questionnaire, Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire, Learning Climate Questionnaire and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction Scale were adopted for data collection. Latent profile analysis was used to classify the academic motivation among master's nursing student, and the R3STEP method was employed to conduct multinomial logistic regression analysis to explore factors associated with each class.

The academic motivation among master's nursing students could be divided into four latent classes: 'relatively low motivation' group (40.3%), 'relatively high autonomous motivation' group (23.3%), 'relatively high controlled motivation' group (19.7%) and 'relatively high motivation' group (16.7%). Compared with the 'relatively low motivation' group, older age was associated with a lower likelihood of belonging to the 'relatively high motivation' group. Students who were female, who chose nursing as their first choice, and who perceived higher autonomy support and greater satisfaction of basic psychological needs were more likely to belong to the 'relatively high autonomous motivation' group. Students who chose nursing as their first choice and who perceived higher autonomy support were more likely to fall into the 'relatively high motivation' group.

The academic motivation among master's nursing students is heterogeneous. Autonomy-supportive learning environments and attention to students' basic psychological needs may represent relevant areas for educational support and future intervention research.