The purpose of this study was to explore latent profiles of self-determination motivation and
goal contents and to investigate the differences in class involvement and self-regulated learning
among profile groups. Applying latent profile analysis with 396 elementary school students, four
distinct profiles of motivation and goal contents were found; autonomous motivation-intrinsic
goal group, high motivation-high goal group, normative group, and low motivation-low goal
group. Autonomous motivation-intrinsic goal group (i.e., high autonomous and low controlled
motivation, high intrinsic and low extrinsic goal) and high motivation-high goal group (i.e., high
on both autonomous and controlled motivation, high on both intrinsic and extrinsic goals)
showed significantly higher levels of class involvement and self-regulated learning than other
two groups. More interestingly, these two groups were not significantly different in class
involvement and self-regulated learning, indicating that controlled motivation and extrinsic goals
does not matter as long as both autonomous motivation and intrinsic goals were high. The
implications for future research were discussed.