Abstract
The current study investigated 745 primary students by using a gratitude scale, a teacher-student relationship scale, an academic self-efficacy scale, an academic anxiety scale, and an academic engagement scale to examine the multiple mediating roles of the teacher-student relationship, academic self-efficacy, and academic anxiety in the relationship between gratitude and academic engagement. Our findings indicated that gratitude had a direct and positive impact on academic engagement. In addition, gratitude could exert a positive effect on academic engagement by boosting the teacher-student relationship. Gratitude could positively affect academic engagement through a two-step path from the teacher-student relationship to academic self-efficacy. The positive effect of gratitude on academic engagement could also be achieved through a three-step path from the teacher-student relationship to academic anxiety via academic self-efficacy. Therefore, parents and educators can foster students’ experience and expression of gratitude in school life to further improve their academic engagement. The research findings and limitations were discussed in detail.
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Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Project of Humanities and Social Sciences Key Research Base in Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (Grant No. 15JJD190001), and the Nudge Project for Young and Middle-aged Teachers of College of Education in Hangzhou Normal University (Grant No. 18JYXK016). We thank the students and teachers of the participating schools for their time and support.
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Zhen, R., Liu, RD., Ding, Y. et al. Gratitude and academic engagement among primary students: Examining a multiple mediating model. Curr Psychol 40, 2543–2551 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00202-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-019-00202-3