Jesus Alfonso D. Datu

Peace of mind, academic motivation, and academic achievement in Filipino High School students

Recent literature has recognized the advantageous role of low-arousal positive affect such as feelings of peacefulness and internal harmony in collectivist cultures. However, limited research has explored the benefits of low-arousal affective states in the educational setting. The current study examined the link of peace of mind (PoM) to academic motivation (i.e., amotivation, controlled motivation, and autonomous motivation) and academic achievement among 525 Filipino high school students. Findings revealed that PoM was positively associated with academic achievement β = .16, p < .05, autonomous motivation β = .48, p < .001, and controlled motivation β = .25, p < .01. As expected, PoM was negatively related to amotivation β = -.19, p < .05, and autonomous motivation was positively associated with academic achievement β = .52, p < .01. Furthermore, the results of bias-corrected bootstrap analyses at 95% confidence interval based on 5,000 bootstrapped resamples demonstrated that peace of mind had an indirect influence on academic achievement through the mediating effects of autonomous motivation. In terms of the effect sizes, the findings showed that PoM explained about 1% to 18% of the variance in academic achievement and motivation. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are elucidated.

Which emotional profiles exhibit the best learning outcomes? A person-centered analysis of students’ academic emotions:

Previous studies on academic emotions have mostly used variable-centered approaches. Although these studies have elucidated the relationships between academic emotions and key academic outcomes, they cannot identify naturally-occurring groups of students defined by distinct academic emotion profiles. In this study, we adopted a person-centered approach to explore whether students can be grouped in terms of distinct academic emotion profiles and whether these groups differed in terms of key academic outcomes. Cluster analyses showed four distinct profiles across both domain-general (Study 1) and domain-specific (Study 2) academic emotions. Students with high levels of positive academic emotions and low levels of negative academic emotions exhibited the most adaptive educational outcomes followed by students characterized by high levels of positive emotions and moderately high levels of shame. The most maladaptive profile was exhibited by students who are low in positive academic emotions and high in negative academic emotions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Psychological capital bolsters motivation, engagement, and achievement: Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Abstract Psychological capital (PsyCap) has been widely investigated in the organizational context. However, limited attention has been given to the role of PsyCap in the academic setting. The primary objective of this study was to examine how PsyCap is associated with academic motivation, engagement, and achievement using both cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) approaches. Study 1 revealed that PsyCap was associated with higher autonomous motivation and controlled motivation even after controlling for relevant demographic variables. PsyCap was also associated with lower levels of amotivation. Study 2 showed that PsyCap was both a concurrent and prospective predictor of autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, academic engagement, and academic achievement even after controlling for their respective autoregressors and other relevant covariates. Mediational analyses indicated that the effects of T1 PsyCap on T2 achievement and T2 engagement were mediated by T2 autonomous motivation. The theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.

Psychometric Validity and Gender Invariance of the Academic Buoyancy Scale in the Philippines: A Construct Validation Approach:

The current study examined the psychometric validity and gender invariance of the Academic Buoyancy Scale in the Philippines through a construct validation approach. In terms of within-network construct validity, our results demonstrated that the unidimensional model of academic buoyancy significantly fit the current sample and was invariant across gender. Male students scored significantly higher than female students on academic buoyancy. Regarding between-network construct validity, our results revealed that academic buoyancy was positively associated with behavioral and emotional engagement. Implications of the findings of the study are discussed.

How to combat the negative impact of discrimination in a collectivist context? The safeguarding function of peer-oriented hope

Abstract The objective of the study was to assess the moderating role of locus-of-hope on the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes in a collectivist setting. There were 444 Filipino undergraduate students who participated in the research. Findings showed that discrimination was negatively linked to subjective well-being and flourishing while loci-of-hope (internal, external-spiritual, external-family, and external-peers) were positively associated with well-being indices. Further, external-peer locus-of-hope moderated the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes such that for those who had higher external-peer locus-of-hope, everyday discrimination may still be linked to greater well-being. The theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.

The academic rewards of socially-oriented happiness: Interdependent happiness promotes academic engagement

Interdependent happiness has been found to be positively associated with optimal psychological outcomes in collectivist cultures. However, the association between interdependent happiness and key academic outcomes has remained unexplored. The current study examined the association of interdependent happiness with key academic outcomes such as autonomous motivation, engagement, and achievement using both cross-sectional (Study 1) and longitudinal (Study 2) approaches. Study 1 revealed that interdependent happiness positively predicted academic engagement (partly) via autonomous motivation. Study 2 showed that prior interdependent happiness positively predicted subsequent academic engagement even after controlling for autoregressor effects. In addition, reciprocal associations among the key variables were found. Taken together, results of the two studies suggest that interdependent happiness plays an adaptive role in the academic context especially in a collectivist cultural setting. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Grit is Associated with Lower Depression via Meaning in Life among Filipino High School Students

Grit—passion and perseverance for long-term goals—has been linked to a wide array of positive academic and psychological outcomes. However, limited research has been conducted to explore the association of grit with different indicators of well-being and psychological health. The primary objective of this study was to assess the associations among grit, meaning in life, and depression. There were 447 Filipino high school students who participated in the study. Results of structural equation modeling showed that grit was linked to higher levels of meaning in life dimensions (i.e., presence of meaning and search for meaning in life) and presence of meaning was associated with lower depression. Bias-corrected bootstrapping revealed that grit had an indirect negative influence on depression through the intermediate variable—presence of meaning in life. Theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.

Validation of the Gratitude Questionnaire in Filipino Secondary School Students

Most studies have assessed the psychometric properties of the Gratitude Questionnaire - Six-Item Form (GQ-6) in the Western contexts while very few research has been generated to explore the applicability of this scale in non-Western settings. To address this gap, the aim of the study was to examine the factorial validity and gender invariance of the Gratitude Questionnaire in the Philippines through a construct validation approach. There were 383 Filipino high school students who participated in the research. In terms of within-network construct validity, results of confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the five-item version of the questionnaire (GQ-5) had better fit compared to the original six-item version of the gratitude questionnaire. The scores from the GQ-5 also exhibited invariance across gender. Between-network construct validation showed that gratitude was associated with higher levels of academic achievement (β = .46, p <.001), autonomous motivation (β = .73, p <.001), and controlled motivation (β = .28, p <.01). Conversely, gratitude was linked to lower degree of amotivation (β = -.51, p <.001). Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The triarchic model of grit is linked to academic success and well-being among Filipino high school students.

Previous investigations mostly relied on the two-factor model of grit (with perseverance of effort and consistency of interests as major dimensions) which received a number criticisms in the extant literature. Recent studies have provided promising lines of evidence regarding the triarchic model of grit (TMG) which posits three dimensions of grit in a collectivist setting: perseverance of effort, consistency of interests, and adaptability to situations. However, little is known about how this model of grit may be linked to various indicators of positive educational and psychological functioning. The present research filled this gap through examining the association of the TMG with academic (Study 1) and well-being outcomes (Study 2) among Filipino high school students. Results demonstrated that grit positively predicted academic agentic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement. Findings of multiple mediation analyses showed that grit had indirect effects on academic engagement via the intermediate variable autonomous motivation even after controlling for age, gender, and conscientiousness. Study 2 showed grit positively predicted life satisfaction, positive affect, and interdependent happiness even after controlling for demographic covariates and neuroticism. Grit negatively predicted psychological distress. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Examining the association of grit with test emotions among Hong Kong Chinese primary school students

Passion and perseverance for long-term goals or grit has been linked to various indices of educational success such as academic achievement, engagement, and motivation. Despite the nascent evidence regarding the beneficial impact of grit, previous investigations adopted a variable-centered approach which could not explore how individuals with different profiles of grit may differ in terms of academic outcomes. The current research aimed to build on the existing grit literature through examining the linkage of grit to test emotions using a person-centered approach among 1,051 Hong Kong Chinese primary school students. Results of cluster analyses showed that there were three naturally-occurring profiles of grit (Cluster 1 = High Perseverance and High Consistency; Cluster 2 = High Perseverance and Low Consistency; Cluster 3 = Low Perseverance and High Consistency) in the present study. Results of the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) demonstrated that students who belonged to Cluster 2 had the highest scores on hope and lowest scores on anxiety and shame. The results imply that espousing high perseverance of effort and low consistency of interest is associated with higher levels of positive activating emotions and reduced levels of negative activating emotional states when taking academic tests.