Impact of Intrinsic Motivation on Junior Secondary School Students' Academic Performance in Mathematics despite Family Background in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

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This study employs an ex-post facto research design to examine the relationship between intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics and Junior Secondary School students' academic performance in mathematics despite family background in Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Four research questions were raised to guide the study and one hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The sample comprises 219 Junior Secondary School students in Ohimini Local Government Area. A modified instrument tagged Intrinsic Motivation for Mathematics Academic Performance despite Family Background Questionnaire (IMMAPDFBQ) was used to gather data. Data collected were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics techniques. The findings revealed that the parents’ educational level fall between secondary school level and ND/NCE, the parents engage much in farming and earn between twenty to fifty thousand naira (₦20,000.00 - ₦50,000.00) monthly. The result also indicates high cluster mean of 3.15 (above the decision benchmark of 2.50) for students’ intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics implying the students’ high intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics despite their lower class family background. The students’ performance in mathematics was high (mean = 53.03; SD = 4.25). The test of hypothesis indicated there was a strong positive significant relationship between the students’ intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics and their academic performance in mathematics. These findings have shown that with intrinsic motivation, it is possible for a student to set a high academic standard in mathematics as an objective and achieve it irrespective of the good or poor background and environment in which he finds himself.