PAKISTAN BUSINESS REVIEW JULY 2010 Effect of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation on Academic Performance Research EFFECT OF INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE Nadia Ayub Department of Social Sciences College of Business Management, Karachi Abstract The aim of the present study was to explore relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic performance. Based on literature review following hypotheses were formulated 1) there would be a positive correlation between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic performance. 2). There would be a gender difference on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic performance. A sample of 200 students (100 males and 100 females) was selected from different colleges of Karachi. The age of the participants ranged from 18-21 years (with mean age of 18.56 years). Their educational level was at least intermediate and socioeconomic status was middle and high class. The Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerand, 1992) was administered to assess academic intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and academic performance was measured through last GPA. In order to interpret the results Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients was calculated to assess relationship between academic motivations. Results suggest that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and academic performance were positively correlated(r=.563; n=200; sig=.000).Furthermore, gender difference was found (t=4.324, p <.05) on motivation and academic performance. To conclude, findings of the results illustrates that motivation improves academic performance of the students. In addition, there is gender difference in motivation type and academic performance. Key Words: Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Academic Performance JEL Classification: Z0000 363 Research