Medical teachers' attitudes towards science and motivational orientation for medical research.
BACKGROUND
Research is an important motivating factor for pursuing a career in academic medicine, but the relation between motivation and other factors involved in scientific research are not clear.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the motivational orientation for doing research and its relation with attitudes towards science and publication practice among members of faculty at a medical school.


METHODS
We used a Science Attitude Survey and the Work Preference Inventory (intrinsic and extrinsic motivational orientation using 4 Likert-type scales of motivation, possible range 1-5) to survey two groups of teachers at the Zagreb University School of Medicine (n = 327, 66% response rate): professors, elected to tenure-track positions (n = 150), and instructor/research fellows working on or just completing their thesis (n = 177).


RESULTS
Overall, teachers scored highest on the Enjoyment subscale of intrinsic motivational orientation (mean score +/- standard deviation 4.3 +/- 0.42 for professors vs 4.1 +/- 0.42 for instructors/research fellows, P = 0.001, t-test). Professors also scored higher than instructors/research fellows on the Challenge subscale of intrinsic motivational orientation (3.8 +/- 0.55 vs. 3.5 +/- 0.64, P < 0.001, t-test), whereas instructors/research fellows scored higher on the Compensation subscale of extrinsic motivational orientation (3.5 +/- 0.74 vs. 3.1 +/- 0.71, P < 0.001, t-test). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the number of publications was positively associated with scores on the Science Attitude Survey and the Challenge subscale of intrinsic motivation, and negatively associated with scores on the Compensation subscale of extrinsic motivation.


CONCLUSIONS
Members of the medical faculty differ in motivational orientation for research depending on their academic status, and their motivation is associated more with requirements for academic advancement than with research. These findings have important implications for developing strategies for enhancing academic research production.
Cvek
Mario
M
Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia.
Hren
Darko
D
Sambunjak
Dario
D
Planinc
Mislav
M
Macković
Maja
M
Marusić
Ana
A
Marusić
Matko
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D017523:Croatia; D003625:Data Collection; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011643:Publishing; D012106:Research; D012577:Schools, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult