If it's going to be, it's up to me: first-year psychology students’ experiences regarding academic success

Student life is marked by substantial growth in areas such as self-regulation abilities. In this article, the experiences of first-year Psychology students are explored through the lenses of the self-determination theory. Both content and thematic analyses were done with 79 students’ reflections on the aspects they regarded as facilitating/preventing success in their studies. Responses ranged from complete external control (amotivation and external regulation) to high levels of internal control (integration). While many participants articulated their perceptions of incompetence, other participants took ownership of their behavior and articulated how an interest in and enthusiasm for Psychology as a discipline moved them toward feelings of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. High value was placed on a well-structured but warm and responsive educational context.