Introduction: This study was carried out to determine the most important risk factors of moti-vational deficiencies among university students.

Method: Two hundred seventy two students (124 males, 148 females) aged 18-25 from different�colleges of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in the city of Yazd took part in this�study. The employed questionnaire incorporated four groups of motivational factors including pri-�mary and secondary physiological motivations, motivations for psychosocial development, spiri-�tual motivations and motivations based on educational needs. The obtained data were analyzed using means ranking and analysis of variance.

Results: The findings of this study indicated that anticipation of no appropriate access to primary�and secondary physiological needs such as accessing welfare services, favorable future job and�income, as well as students’ dissatisfaction with the university’s present educational level and fa- cilities have all equally led to remarkable motivational deficiencies.

Conclusion: Motivational deficiencies may potentially lead to pessimism, anxiety and depression as well as poor academic performance in students.