Self-Concept as a Mediator of the Relation Between University Students’ Resilience and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Academic achievement is a factor of interest in both psychology and education. Determining which factors have a negative or positive influence on academic performance has produced different investigations. The present study focuses on analyzing the relationship between resilience, emotional intelligence, self-concept and the academic achievement of university students. For this purpose, different self-report tools were administered to a sample of 1,020 university students from Southern Spain. The Structural Equation-based mediational analysis suggests that there is no direct relationship between resilience and academic achievement, nor between emotional intelligence and academic achievement. Likewise, self-concept is positioned as a mediating factor in the relationship between resilience and academic achievement. The findings indicate that university students who exhibit high levels of resilience tend to cope better with difficult moments and understand and value the effort required and invested in study time. This study supports positive beliefs and behaviors for better academic achievement.

The relationship between basic psychological needs satisfaction and university students’ academic engagement: The mediating effect of emotional intelligence

“…Compared with other dimensions, the results suggested that only the dimension of UOE could play a significant mediating role between BPNS and academic engagement. The finding was in line with a study more recently carried out by Parent-Lamarche (2022). Based on a sample of 254 Canadian employees from 18 small and medium organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Parent-Lamarche (2022) found that except for skill utilization and recognition, use of emotion could appear to be key considerations for organizations that wish to increase work engagement and decrease intention to quit.…”

Impact of Confinement on Coping Strategies and Psychosocial Factors among University Students

“…In line with previous research [ 14 , 56 ], the results obtained have found a positive relationship between EI and coping strategies and a negative relationship between EI and levels of anxiety, depression and stress. In this regard, EI may be associated with adaptive coping strategies in response to the burden of negative emotions that may have been produced by the pandemic and the confinement derived from it.…”

“…The concept of EI and its definition have been widely discussed and argued from both the field of education and psychology, with different approaches [ 14 , 15 , 16 ]. In the scientific literature, two opposing models have been identified: the ability model, which considers EI to be a genuine intelligence that allows the person to adapt to the context, and the mixed models, where EI is understood as a set of traits that can vary more or less over time and that determines the person’s behavior.…”

“…The situation of confinement, in addition to all the above mentioned, caused them to face a more demanding training situation, both in terms of management, organization and the achievement of academic goals [ 35 ]. The major changes that threaten the socio-emotional and mental balance of this population in their transition to university [ 14 ], as well as the measures adopted by the educational institutions, have led to the maintenance of adequate levels of mental health. Furthermore, research carried out with this population in the initial stages after the state of alarm decreed in different universities shows levels that need to be monitored [ 36 , 37 ].…”

Resilience in first cycle students in a university.

“…Ante lo declarado, podemos indicar que es necesario fomentar el desarrollo de la resiliencia en los estudiantes para ampliar su habilidad de afrontar de manera exitosa las situaciones complejas y escenarios competitivos al que se enfrentan en la vida universitaria [27], [28], [29]. Se propone a la resiliencia como una habilidad que deben desarrollar lo s estudiantes, fundamentado en que todas las personas tienen fortalezas que se pueden usar para inhibir o moderar los efectos de los factores de riesgo [12], [30].…”