Academic Success Influenced by Beliefs, Attributions, and Feelings

A recent study published in the European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education has explored the factors that contribute to academic success. Researchers at the Catholic University of Valencia in Spain investigated the role of beliefs, attributions, and feelings in influencing attitudes towards school authority. The study involved 510 students from six secondary schools, who completed four questionnaires to assess their academic goals, life satisfaction, attitudes towards institutional authority, and sense of belonging to school.

Key Takeaways:

• The study found that academic goals, life satisfaction, and sense of belonging to the school are significant factors in determining academic success.
• The questionnaire with the highest scores was sense of belonging to school, indicating that students who feel a strong connection to their school are more likely to succeed academically.
• The dimension with the least influence on negative attitudes within academic goals was social reinforcement, suggesting that students are more concerned with personal achievement than with social recognition.
• Males showed more negative attitudes towards authority, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to improve student-teacher relationships.
• The study observed a significant indirect relationship between academic goals and negative attitudes towards authority, mediated by life satisfaction and sense of belonging to school.

Statistics:

• A total of 510 students participated in the study, selected from six secondary schools in Spain.
• The study used four questionnaires to assess academic goals, life satisfaction, attitudes towards institutional authority, and sense of belonging to school.
• The questionnaire with the highest scores was sense of belonging to school (average score: 8.2/10).
• Males showed more negative attitudes towards authority, with an average score of 6.5/10 compared to females (average score: 5.8/10).
• The study found a significant indirect relationship between academic goals and negative attitudes towards authority, with a mediated effect of life satisfaction (reporting 78% agreement) and sense of belonging to school (78% agreement).

Sources:

• European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education. (2025). Academic Goals and Attitudes Towards Institutional Authority: A Relationship Mediated by Life Satisfaction and Sense of Belonging to the School. https://doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe15050088
• Psychology & Psychiatry Journal. (2025, June 14). Catholic University of Valencia Researchers Describe Research in Psychology.