Discipline

Education

Abstract

College students are expected to develop independence, but family influence continues to shape their emotional well-being and academic motivation. While motivation is often studied in relation to personal interests, peers, and the school environment, the role of family communication in tertiary education is less explored. Family communication patterns, particularly conversation-oriented and conformity-oriented styles, can affect students' confidence, persistence, and goal-setting. This study examines the relationship between family communication and academic motivation among students at St. Mary's College Inc. A quantitative correlational design is used. Data are collected via an online survey from 51 tertiary students, measuring family communication and academic motivation on a Likert scale. The weighted mean determines overall levels, and the Pearson correlation coefficient assesses the relationship. Respondents generally experienced supportive family communication (weighted mean = 3.70, "Most of the time") and high academic motivation (weighted mean = 3.71, "Agree"). The strongest motivator was the desire to make their family proud, with 47% strongly agreeing. Family encouragement and appreciation were reported to enhance academic performance (43.1%). The correlation analysis showed a strong positive relationship (r = 0.87) between family communication and academic motivation. Effective family communication significantly strengthened students' academic motivation, supporting research on emotional support and open dialogue. Limitations included a small sample and a single-institution scope. Future studies could examine larger, more diverse populations. Findings suggested that parents and schools should promote supportive communication and strengthen parent-school partnerships to enhance academic success and well-being.

Keywords

family communication, academic motivation, tertiary learners, conversation-oriented communication, conformity-oriented communication