The motivation of massage therapy students to enter professional education

Abstract

In Ontario massage therapy is a regulated health profession, and it has been speculated that massage therapy students are motivated primarily by altruistic values, as has been documented in medicine. Students at Sutherland–Chan School and Teaching Clinic in Ontario were surveyed regarding their motivation to enter massage therapy education, with the intention of assessing the influence of certain value complexes on their decision. The results indicate that their decision was influenced more strongly by intrinsic values related to helping and working with people than by the prospect of extrinsic rewards (p < 0.0005). This supports a belief commonly held within the professional community, and bodes well for the future of massage therapy as a caring profession.