Self-Efficacy, Optimism, and Academic Performance as Psychoeducational Variables: Mediation Approach in Students

Abstract

Background: During the various stages of education, adolescents undergo emotional and motivational experiences that can play key roles in their development. This study aims to analyse the relationship among academic self-efficacy, optimism, and academic performance. Methods: This study comprised 1852 adolescent (male, N = 956, 51.61% and female, N = 896, 48.38%) aged 12–19 years (M = 14.77; SD = 1.80) from twelve secondary schools in Spain. The instruments used for the evaluation were the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) and the Life Orientation Test—Revised (LOT-R); the students’ average marks were used to measure their academic performance. Results: The results of the study revealed significant correlations among self-efficacy, optimism and academic performance. Conclusions: These results emphasise the importance of academic self-efficacy as a mediating variable between the other two variables as well as its central role in the promotion of adaptive behaviours in the classroom, leading to adequate personal development, helping to prevent early school dropout and contributing to a more satisfactory academic experience.

The relationship between emotional intelligence and optimism: A meta‐analysis

“…Both emotional intelligence and optimism are positive psychology constructs related to a variety of beneficial outcomes (Brackett et al, 2011; Macleod & Conway, 2005; Malouff & Schutte, 2017; Nes & Segerstrom, 2006; Siegling et al, 2015; Usán et al, 2022). The positive and significant association between the two constructs found across studies, suggests the possibility of a mutual relationship between emotional intelligence and optimism that involves each strengthening the other.…”

“…Emotional intelligence, as conceptualised by Mayer et al (2008), is the ability to perceive, understand and manage one's own emotions and those of others. Optimism is associated with concepts related to emotional processes such as, greater self-efficacy (Usán et al, 2022), better preventative coping skills (Nes & Segerstrom, 2006) and broader social networks (Macleod & Conway, 2005). Mayer et al (2008) proposed that emotional intelligence is an ability that is best assessed by performance measures, similar to those assessing cognitive intelligence.…”

Unhealthy lifestyles and clusters status among 3637 adolescents aged 11–23 years: a school-based cross-sectional study in China

“…Notably, we found that adolescents with light study burden had a high frequency of tobacco consumption. Lighter self-reported study burden did not indicate better academic performance, which may be due to the low academic focus among these adolescents [ 70 ]. The present study found that adolescents with 1–2 close friends were most likely to smoke and drink, consistent with previous studies [ 71 , 72 ].…”

Adolescent social media use: cultivating and constraining competence

“…This is reflected in the World Health Organisation’s (World Health Organization, 2014 , para.1) statement noting that adolescents “develop knowledge and skills, learn to manage emotions and relationships, and acquire attributes and abilities that will be important for enjoying the adolescent years and assuming adult roles”. Beyond functional benefits, the experiential aspect of competence (e.g., feeling effective and capable) can have positive implications for factors associated with wellbeing including optimism, self-esteem and self-efficacy (de la Barrera et al, 2019 ; Sagone et al, 2020 ; Usán et al, 2022 ).…”