Mediating Role of Basic Psychological Needs in Relationship between the Perceptions of the Classroom Environment and Academic Self-Regulation

The goal of this correlation study was to investigate the mediating role of basic psychological needs satisfaction in the relationship between the perceptions of the classroom environment and academic self-regulation. The statistical population encompassed female high school students in Shiraz, studying in 1398- 99. Of this population, a sample of 225 students were selected through cluster random sampling. Participants completed the Basic Psychological Needs Scale, the Academic Self-Regulation Questionnaire, and the Perception of the Classroom Environment Questionnaire. The findings of structural equation modeling showed that satisfying basic psychological needs had a mediating role in the relationship between perception of the classroom environment and academic self-regulation. This implies that increasing the students’ positive perception of the classroom environment (interest, challenge, choice, and pleasure) increases the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs and subsequently their academic self-regulation. Therefore, it can be argued that apart from the effective educational factors, the satisfaction of basic psychological needs should be considered as a mediating variable in fostering the students’ academic self-regulation.