PECULIARITIES OF LAW STUDENTS’ PROFESSIONAL MOTIVATION

Youth is considered to be the period favorable for the formation of professional motivation of future experts in any field. In the process of studying at a higher educational institution the processes of self-development, creativity and selffulfillment are taking place, which is explained by the complicatedness of the structure of value orientations of young people. That is why the issue of examining students' motivation is of extreme importance. The paper aims to investigate the peculiarities of law students' professional motivation development in the process of studying at a university. To this end, the experimental technique of examining motivation profiles by Sh. Ritchie and P. Martin was used. The experiment involved 150 students (75 first-year students and 75 fourth-year students) studying at the Faculty of Law at Ternopil National Economic University. The carried out research has shown that professional motivation is being formed in law students gradually increasing with the year of study at a university. Some qualitative changes are taking place, the role of pragmatic motives is decreasing and the needs for self-development and self-fulfillment are increasing. The obtained results were compared with A. Maslow's hierarchy of human needs and it has confirmed the theory that human needs have to be satisfied according to the levels, in hierarchical sequence. The satisfaction of the needs of the lowest level creates the basis for the formation of the higher one.