The Mediating Role of Academic Engagement in the Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being and Student Achievement
Keywords:
: psychological well-being, academic engagement, student achievement, mediation analysis, undergraduate students
Abstract
This study examined the mediating role of academic engagement in the relationship between psychological well-being and student achievement among undergraduate students in Indonesia. Employing a quantitative cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 250 undergraduate students using the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-BeingShort Form (SPWB-SF), the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI), and self-reported cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) as the measure of academic achievement. Mediation analysis was conducted using Model 4 of the PROCESS macro for SPSS with 5,000 bootstrap resamples and bias-corrected 95% confidence intervals. Results demonstrated that psychological well-being was a significant positive predictor of both academic engagement (b = 0.024, p < .001) and student achievement (b = 0.011, p < .001). Academic engagement significantly and positively predicted student achievement after controlling for psychological well-being (b = 0.187, p < .001). The indirect effect of psychological well-being on student achievement through academic engagement was statistically significant (ab = 0.005, BCa 95% CI [0.002, 0.008]), accounting for 42.3% of the total effect, indicating partial mediation. The complete model explained 31.8% of the variance in student achievement. These findings underscore the importance of nurturing students' psychological well-being and academic engagement as complementary pathways toward improving undergraduate academic performance.
References
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Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 516–537.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.
Reeve, J. (2012). A self-determination theory perspective on student engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 149–172). Springer.
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Richardson, M., Abraham, C., & Bond, R. (2012). Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 353–387.
Robbins, S. B., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A. (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130(2), 261–288.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton Mifflin.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467–487.
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Suldo, S. M., Hearon, B. V., Bander, B., McCullough, M., Garofano, J., Maydeu-Olivares, A., & Ferron, J. M. (2018). Increasing elementary school students' subjective well-being through a classwide positive psychology intervention. Contemporary School Psychology, 22(4), 448–461.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2019). Using multivariate statistics (7th ed.). Pearson.
van Dierendonck, D. (2004). The construct validity of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being and its extension with spiritual well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(3), 629–643.
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2013). School context, achievement motivation, and academic engagement: A longitudinal study of school engagement using a multidimensional perspective. Learning and Instruction, 28, 12–23.
Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75–90.
West, S. G., Finch, J. F., & Curran, P. J. (1995). Structural equation models with nonnormal variables: Problems and remedies. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 56–75). SAGE Publications.
Yusuf, S. (2018). Psikologi perkembangan anak dan remaja. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Self-efficacy: An essential motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 82–91.
Antaramian, S. (2017). The importance of very high life satisfaction for students' academic success. Cogent Education, 4(1), 1307622.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173–1182.
Brislin, R. W. (1970). Back-translation for cross-cultural research. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 1(3), 185–216.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Datu, J. A. D., & King, R. B. (2018). Subjective well-being is linked to academic achievement: Implications for educational practice. School Psychology Quarterly, 33(3), 415–426.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The "what" and "why" of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
DeVellis, R. F. (2017). Scale development: Theory and applications (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Efron, B., & Tibshirani, R. J. (1993). An introduction to the bootstrap. Chapman & Hall.
Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Lang, A.-G., & Buchner, A. (2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191.
Field, A. (2018). Discovering statistics using IBM SPSS statistics (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence. Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59–109.
Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56(3), 218–226.
Hakkarainen, A. M., Holopainen, L. K., & Savolainen, H. K. (2021). A five-year follow-up on the role of educational support in preventing dropout from upper secondary education in Finland. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 54(6), 481–493.
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Hayes, A. F. (2018). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. American Psychologist, 44(3), 513–524.
IBM Corp. (2019). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. IBM Corp.
Kern, M. L., Lea Waters, R., Adler, A., & White, M. A. (2015). A multidimensional approach to measuring well-being in students: Application of the PERMA framework. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 10(3), 262–271.
Khairani, A. Z., Shamsuddin, H., & Tengah, K. A. (2019). The influence of academic engagement on student performance in higher education: An empirical evidence from Malaysia. International Journal of Higher Education, 8(4), 14–22.
Kline, R. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (4th ed.). The Guilford Press.
Lipnevich, A. A., Preckel, F., & Krumm, S. (2016). Mathematics attitudes and their unique contribution to achievement: Going over and above cognitive ability and personality. Learning and Individual Differences, 47, 70–79.
Listiyandini, R. A., Nathania, A., Syahniar, D., Sonia, L., & Nadya, R. (2017). Mengukur rasa syukur: Pengembangan model awal skala bersyukur versi Indonesia. Jurnal Psikologi Ulayat, 2(2), 473–496.
Luthans, F., Youssef, C. M., & Avolio, B. J. (2007). Psychological capital: Developing the human competitive edge. Oxford University Press.
MacKinnon, D. P. (2008). Introduction to statistical mediation analysis. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Maroco, J., Maroco, A. L., Campos, J. A. D. B., & Fredricks, J. A. (2016). University student's engagement: Development and validation of the University Student Engagement Inventory (USEI). Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica, 29, 21.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Pajares, F. (1996). Self-efficacy beliefs in academic settings. Review of Educational Research, 66(4), 543–578.
Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Barchfeld, P., & Perry, R. P. (2011). Measuring emotions in students' learning and performance: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(1), 36–48.
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903.
Poropat, A. E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 516–537.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.
Reeve, J. (2012). A self-determination theory perspective on student engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of research on student engagement (pp. 149–172). Springer.
Richardson, M., Abraham, C., & Bond, R. (2012). Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 353–387.
Richardson, M., Abraham, C., & Bond, R. (2012). Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 138(2), 353–387.
Robbins, S. B., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A. (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130(2), 261–288.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness. The Guilford Press.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), 1069–1081.
Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psychological well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(4), 719–727.
Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton Mifflin.
Sin, N. L., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2009). Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: A practice-friendly meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65(5), 467–487.
Skinner, E., Kindermann, T. A., Connell, J. P., & Wellborn, J. G. (2009). Engagement and disaffection as organizational constructs in the dynamics of motivational development. In K. R. Wentzel & A. Wigfield (Eds.), Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 223–245). Routledge.
Suldo, S. M., Hearon, B. V., Bander, B., McCullough, M., Garofano, J., Maydeu-Olivares, A., & Ferron, J. M. (2018). Increasing elementary school students' subjective well-being through a classwide positive psychology intervention. Contemporary School Psychology, 22(4), 448–461.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2019). Using multivariate statistics (7th ed.). Pearson.
van Dierendonck, D. (2004). The construct validity of Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-Being and its extension with spiritual well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(3), 629–643.
Wang, M. T., & Eccles, J. S. (2013). School context, achievement motivation, and academic engagement: A longitudinal study of school engagement using a multidimensional perspective. Learning and Instruction, 28, 12–23.
Waters, L. (2011). A review of school-based positive psychology interventions. The Australian Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 28(2), 75–90.
West, S. G., Finch, J. F., & Curran, P. J. (1995). Structural equation models with nonnormal variables: Problems and remedies. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications (pp. 56–75). SAGE Publications.
Yusuf, S. (2018). Psikologi perkembangan anak dan remaja. Remaja Rosdakarya.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Self-efficacy: An essential motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 82–91.
Published
2026-06-29
How to Cite
Nailul mukorobin. (2026). The Mediating Role of Academic Engagement in the Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being and Student Achievement. International Journal of Education, Vocational and Social Science , 5(03), 2869-2891. https://doi.org/10.63922/ijevss.v5i03.4684
Contact Person +6282139474255
Email : ijevss@citakonsultindo.or.id / editor.ijevss@gmail.com
