Psychological variables and their impact on academic achievement in higher education

Casiraghi, Bruna; Boruchovitch, Evely; Almeida, Leandro da Silva

doi:10.1590/S1413-24782022270064

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ARTICLE • Rev. Bras. Educ. 27 • Jul-Sep 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/S1413-24782022270064 copy

Psychological variables and their impact on academic achievement in higher education

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

Studies emphasize the role of psychological variables as favoring knowledge acquisition and transversal competencies in Higher Education, as well as students’ performance and academic success. Among the psychological variables, self-efficacy perception, motivation to learn and learning strategies stand out. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between these variables and their impact on academic success, as assessed by the performance coefficient. The study enrolled 521 students of both sexes, of different year of study, in the three areas of knowledge. Data indicate a correlation between the studied psychological variables, which explained about 11% of the variation in academic performance, with fluctuations in this percentage explained according to the scientific area of the courses. Strong correlations were observed between self-efficacy and extrinsic motivation with academic performance, highlighting the need for new investigations about learning strategies.

KEYWORDS
academic achievement; self-efficacy; motivation; learning strategies; higher education

	Min.	Max.	M	SD	Sk	Ku	α
APC	4.00	9.50	7.65	0.90	-0.81	1.25	-
Self-efficacy	1.17	10.00	6.30	1.60	-0.20	-0.32	0.87
Intrinsic motivation	13.00	40.00	32.89	4.59	-0.72	0.54	0.81
Extrinsic motivation	9.00	36.00	24.88	5.56	-0.40	-0.36	0.84
Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation	10.00	40.00	32.78	4.79	-0.89	1.02	0.80
Self-regulation of internal and contextual resources	5.00	20.00	16.51	2.99	-0.96	0.91	0.81
Social self-regulation	4.00	16.00	12.11	2.65	-0.53	-0.13	0.76

	N	Mean	SD
Sex
Male	176	7.53	0.92	t = -2.24, p = 0.025
Female	338	7.71	0.89	t = -2.24, p = 0.025
Age
<20	127	7.73	0.89	F(2.511) =1.06, p = 0.346
20-24	284	7.65	0.90
>24	103	7.55	0.92
Field
Exact sciences	79	7.49	1.30	F(2.511) = 3.10, p = 0.046
Humanities	107	7.81	0.85
Health	328	7.64	0.79
Stage
Beginners	100	7.86	0.95	F(2.511) = 3.74, p = 0.024
In the middle	311	7.58	0.86
In the end	103	7.67	0.96
Was the chosen course your first option?
Yes	316	7.67	0.86	t = 0.513, p = 0.609
No	198	7.62	0.96	t = 0.513, p = 0.609
Was the institution you attend your first option?
Yes	216	7.50	0.98	t = -3.159, p = 0.002
No	298	7.76	0.83	t = -3.159, p = 0.002
Did you have to leave your parents’ house to attend HE?
Yes	175	7.65	0.79	t = -0.073, p = 0.942
No	339	7.65	0.95	t = -0.073, p = 0.942

	SE	Int_Mot	Ext_Mot	CM_SR	SR_ICR	S_SR
APC	0.290^***	0.182^***	0.300^***	0.084	0.097^*	-0.075
SE		0.489^***	0.303^***	0.427^***	0.493^***	0.123^**
Int_Mot			0.219^**	0.497^**	0.449^**	0.179^**
Ext_Mot				0.137^**	0.135^**	-0.089^*
CM_SR					0.606^**	0.293^**
SR_ICR						0.239^**
S_SR

Explanatory variables	B	SD (B)	β	R²	ΔR2	F
Group 1
Sex	0.19	0.08	0.10*	0.05	0.04	3.83***
Age	0.00	0.01	-0.02
Education level - mother	0.05	0.03	0.09
Education level - father	0.04	0.02	0.08
The chosen course was the first option	-0.04	0.08	-0.02
The chosen institution was the first option	0.21	0.08	0.12*
To attend HE, the student had to leave the parents’ house	0.11	0.09	0.06
Group 2
Self-efficacy	0.15	0.03	0.26*	0.18	0.16	8.67***
Intrinsic motivation	0.02	0.01	0.09
Extrinsic motivation	0.03	0.01	0.17*
Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation	-0.01	0.01	-0.04
Self-regulation of internal and contextual resources	-0.02	0.02	-0.07
Social self-regulation	-0.03	0.01	-0.07

Field	Explanatory variables		B	SD (B)	β	R²	ΔR2	F
Exact sciences	Group 1	Sex	0.43	0.28	0.17	0.25	0.18	3.44**
		Age	-0.19	0.05	-0.40***
		Education level of mother	-0.04	0.09	-0.05
		Education level of father	0.04	0.08	0.06
		The chosen course was the first option	0.21	0.28	0.08
		The chosen institution was the first option	0.22	0.29	0.09
		To attend HE the student had to leave the parents’ house	0.13	0.37	0.04
	Group 2	Self-efficacy	0.12	0.11	0.15	0.41	0.29	3.43***
		Intrinsic motivation	0.08	0.03	0.33*
		Extrinsic motivation	0.02	0.03	0.09
		Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation	-0.03	0.04	-0.14
		Self-regulation of internal and contextual resources	-0.01	0.06	-0.03
		Social self-regulation	-0.11	0.07	-0.22
Humanities	Group 1	Sex	0.36	0.19	0.21	0.09	0.02	1.31
		Age	0.00	0.01	-0.03
		Education level of mother	0.06	0.06	0.12
		Education level of father	0.01	0.05	0.01
		The chosen course was the first option	-0.04	0.17	-0.02
		The chosen institution was the first option	-0.32	0.16	-0.19
		To attend HE the student had to leave the parents’ house	0.00	0.24	0.00
	Group 2	Self-efficacy	0.15	0.07	0.30*	0.22	0.11	1.98*
		Intrinsic motivation	-0.01	0.02	-0.03
		Extrinsic motivation	0.04	0.01	0.26*
		Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation	-0.01	0.03	-0.08
		Self-regulation of internal and contextual resources	-0.02	0.04	-0.07
		Social self-regulation	-0.02	0.03	-0.05
Health	Group 1	Sex	-0.02	0.09	-0.01	0.15	0.13	8.13***
		Age	0.01	0.01	0.08
		Education level of mother	0.08	0.03	0.16*
		Education level of father	0.05	0.03	0.12
		The chosen course was the first option	-0.18	0.09	-0.10*
		The chosen institution was the first option	0.42	0.09	0.26***
		To attend HE the student had to leave the parents’ house	0.12	0.09	0.08
	Group 2	Self-efficacy	0.13	0.03	0.26***	0.29	0.26	9.70***
		Intrinsic motivation	0.01	0.01	0.03
		Extrinsic motivation	0.03	0.01	0.21***
		Cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation	-0.01	0.01	-0.05
		Self-regulation of internal and contextual resources	-0.01	0.02	-0.05
		Social self-regulation	-0.02	0.02	-0.06

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[1] Bruna Casiraghi has a doctorate in Education Science from the Universidade do Minho (Portugal). She is a professor at the Centro Universitário de Volta Redonda (UniFOA). E-mail: bruna@casiraghi.com.br