Causal Explanation of Academic Engagement Based on Academic Support and Students' Psychological Capital

This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between academic engagement and academic support with the mediation of psychological capital. For this purpose, 230 elementary school students of Yasuj were selected through multistage cluster sampling method. Three questionnaires were used to collect data, namely Sands and Plunkett’s, Academic Support Scale, Luthans and Avolio’s Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and Reeve’s Academic Engagement questionnaire. Data was analyzed via path analysis using structural equation modeling. The findings corroborated the good fitness of the model with the research data. Besides, the results demonstrated significant and direct paths between academic support and academic engagement, psychological capital and academic engagement, and between academic support and psychological capital. On the other hand, the indirect path from academic support to academic engagement through psychological capital was also significant. In sum, the results of this study show that academic support by affecting psychological capital can lead to effective involvement of students in educational and learning activities.