The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in the Relationship Between Academic Self-Efficacy, Academic Engagement, and Academic Meaningfulness with Academic Achievement Among Students in Wasit, Iraq

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, and academic meaningfulness with academic achievement.

This study is descriptive in nature and employs a correlational-structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. The statistical population consists of middle school students in Wasit, Iraq, during the spring of 2024. A total of 174 students were selected as the sample through convenience sampling. The research instruments included the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans, 2007), the Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (Midgley et al., 2000), the Academic Engagement Questionnaire (Fredricks et al., 2004), the Academic Meaningfulness Questionnaire (Henderson-King & Smith, 2006), and the Academic Achievement Questionnaire (Wells, 2010). The collected data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling through SPSS 22 and AMOS 19 software. The results indicated a significant and positive direct relationship between academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, academic meaningfulness, and psychological capital with academic achievement (p < .01). Additionally, the relationship between academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, and academic meaningfulness with psychological capital was also found to be significantly positive and direct (p < .01). Furthermore, the results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that psychological capital mediates the relationship between academic self-efficacy, academic engagement, and academic meaningfulness with academic achievement (p < .01).