The relationship between competence perception and academic self-efficacy in third grade elementary school children with the mediating role of academic motivation

The aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between competence perception and academic self-efficacy in third grade elementary school children with the mediating role of academic motivation.

The present research method is correlation of structural equation modeling and population of the present study included the first-grade elementary students of Qazvin city in 2022-2023. Based on the theory of Tabachnick and Fidell (2001), they considered the sufficient minimum sample size 200 for structural equation modeling. Therefore, 223 participants were selected through available sampling method. The research instruments included Harter's competence perception questionnaires (1982), Morgan Jing's academic self-efficacy (1988) and Harter's motivation for academic progress (1980). To analyze the model, structural equation modeling method and AMOS 24 software were used.

The results showed that academic motivation mediated the relationship between students' perception of competence and academic self-efficacy. Also, the results of the research indicated that the direct relationship between competence perceptions and academic self-efficacy and academic motivation, as well as the direct relationship between academic motivation and academic self-efficacy of students, is statistically significant.

The current results have provided a valuable idea for researchers and educators about issues related to academic self-efficacy for students and have supported the importance of the perception of competence and academic motivation in relation to academic self-efficacy of students.