The Relation Between Autonomy and Well-Being in Higher Education Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education has drastically moved online, which has increased the importance of autonomous learning by students. A decrease in students' well-being has meanwhile been registered across the globe. In this study, we examine which learning characteristics increase student well-being under the pandemic constraints. We investigate students' well-being, specifically burnout, amotivation, and study engagement, and their relation to learning autonomy. Two types of autonomy were included: autonomy at the student-level and autonomy at the instructor-level, measured via the instructors' communication and support provided for online learning. Our analyses show that amotivation and burnout correlated negatively with both kinds of autonomy. Similarly, student engagement correlated positively with both kinds of autonomy. A multiple regression showed that student-level autonomy was the only variable to significantly predict all three well-being variables, while instructor support predicted only study engagement and burnout. Instructor communication did not predict any well-being variables. Implications, limitations, and future directions for the role of autonomy in online learning are discussed.