Self-Efficacy, Academic Aspirations, and Delinquency as Predictors of Academic Achievement in Australian High School Students
Year: 2012
Type: preprint
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The present research explored the influences of self-efficacy, delinquency, and academic aspirations on the academic achievement of 935 high school students from ten high schools in two Australian capital cities (Brisbane and Perth). It was predicted that while academic and social self-efficacy and academic aspirations would have a positive impact on the academic achievement of high school students, self-regulatory efficacy and delinquency would have a negative impact. More specifically, we tested three competing models: the hypothesized mediated model of the mediational effects of academic aspirations and delinquency from academic, social and self-regulatory self-efficacy to academic achievement; a partially mediated model in which the direct effects of academic, social and self-regulatory self-efficacy on academic achievement were tested as well as the mediational effects of aspirations and delinquency; and a non-mediated model where direct paths from academic, social and self-regulatory self-efficacy to academic achievement were tested. Participants were administered the Children’s Self-Efficacy Scale (Bandura, 1990); the Adapted Self-Report Delinquency Scale (Revised) (Carroll, Durkin, Houghton, & Hattie, 1996), and the Children’s Academic Aspirations Scale (Bandura, 1996). For academic achievement, teachers provided midyear scores for each student in English. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to establish and define the relationships between the constructs and the specific factors that comprised these variables and to test the three alternative models. Of the three models, the partially mediated model showed the best fit to the data, although age and socio-economic status (SES) were not significantly related to delinquency, and age and academic aspirations were not significantly related to academic achievement. Academic self-efficacy and academic achievement were strongly related suggesting a direct causal relationship between these two constructs.
Source: SSRN Electronic Journal
Institution: The University of Western Australia
Language: English
Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2118864364