Testing the structural model of basic psychological needs and academic engagement: The mediating role of academic self-efficacy and academic emotions

The aim of this study was to test the structural model of basic psychological needs with academic involvement with the mediating role of self-efficacy and academic emotions.

The participants were 325 (225 girls and 100 boys) first and second-year high school students in Kerman who were selected by random cluster sampling. All of them completed the questionnaires of basic psychological needs, academic self-efficacy, academic excitement, and academic engagement. The relationships between the variables were tested by structural equation modeling using LISREL software.

The findings showed that on the one hand, basic psychological needs had a direct effect on self-efficacy, emotions, and academic engagement, and on the other hand, they had an indirect effect on academic engagement through self-efficacy and academic emotions. Furthermore, academic self-efficacy had a direct effect on academic emotions and academic engagement, as well as, it had an indirect effect on academic engagement due to emotions.

For students' academic engagement, several antecedents should be considered. Basic psychological needs, academic emotions, and self-efficacy are factors that can influence academic engagement, and the implications of the findings were discussed.