Introduction: Since motivation is what makes human engine running, identifying its infrastructure especially in the areas of education and schooling is important and valuable to the growth and development of the society. The main purpose of this study is to investigating the role of hope and optimism in predicting graduate student's academic motivation. Methods: In this descriptive study in 2011-12 academic years, statistical population included post-graduate students of Ferdowsi University and Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. From this population, 350 were selected through multistage cluster sampling (218 from Ferdowsi University and 132 from Medical University). We used Snyder’s hope scale, Vallerand’s academic motivation scale, and optimism questionnaire by Carve and Scheier for data gathering. Data were analyzed through Pearson correlation coefficient, multiple regression methods and MANOVA. Results: The results of Pearson correlation coefficient indicated that there is a positive and significant correlation between all variables: correlation between motivation and agency (r=0.52, p<0.01), motivation and pathway (r=0.40, p<0.01), motivation and optimism (r=0.34, p<0.01), agency and pathway (r=0.57, p<0.01), agency and optimism (r=0.51, p<0.01), and pathway and optimism (r=0.32, p<0.01). The results of regression showed that combination of hope components and optimism can predict academic motivation (F (225, 3)= 33.780, p<0.001). The significance test of regression coefficients also showed that agency (t=2.173, p<0.05) and pathway (t=5.326, p<0.001) have a statistically significant relation but the regression coefficient of optimism was not statistically significant. Considering male and female students, there was only a significant difference in the area of academic motivation between them. No significant difference was observed between the two universities considering all variables. Conclusion: With regard to the results, hope is a variable related to academic motivation and should be emphasized in academic siettings.

Keywords: Hope, agency, pathway, academic motivation, optimism, post-graduate students

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