The Mediating Role of Epistemic Curiosity in Relationship between University Students’ Epistemic Beliefs and Agentic Engagement

The aim of the current study was to investigate the mediating role of epistemic curiosity in the relationship between university students’ epistemic beliefs and agentic engagement. The research population included all undergraduate students of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the first semester of 2019-2020. For this purpose, 231 participants, selected through random cluster sampling method, completed Oldenburg epistemic beliefs questionnaire, agentic engagement questionnaire, and epistemic curiosity scale. Structural equation modeling, using AMOS, was performed to analyze the data. The results of the model showed that all indices represented their respective latent variables. The structural model, on the other hand, suggested that epistemic beliefs, indirectly and through epistemic curiosity, affect agentic engagement positively and significantly. The fit indices confirmed the goodness of fit of the stated model. Overall, the results indicated that epistemic curiosity mediated the relationship between epistemic beliefs and agentic engagement. Therefore, based on the findings, it can be concluded that to promote the students' constructive participation and agentic engagement in academic environments, we need to consider both their epistemic beliefs and experience of epistemic emotions.