Adaptability, personal best (PB) goals setting, and gains in students’ academic outcomes: A longitudinal examination from a social cognitive perspective

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2018.02.001Get rights and content

Highlights

  • This study explores how adaptability and PB goal setting predicted student gains.

  • These novel constructs are considered within classic social cognitive theorizing.

  • Adaptability significantly predicted gains in PB goal setting.

  • PB goal setting significantly predicted gains in academic outcomes.

  • Findings reaffirmed importance of self-efficacy and social support in student outcomes.

Abstract

The present investigation examines how two novel constructs, adaptability (for self-regulation) and PB goal setting (for goal setting), operate alongside the more “traditional” constructs of the triadic model of social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986) to predict students’ academic gains over time. Given that the triadic model highlights the importance of self-regulation and goal setting in human motivation, it is important to revisit classic models (such as SCT) to ascertain the role and validity of these new and relevant constructs in seminal conceptualizing. A longitudinal process model explored the extent to which: social support from parents, peers, and teachers (environmental factors) predicted gains in students’ self-efficacy, perceived control, adaptability, and PB goal setting (personal factors); self-efficacy, perceived control, and adaptability predicted growth in students’ PB goal setting; and, PB goal setting predicted academic growth in engagement and achievement (behavioral factors). Data were collected via survey one year apart across the 2014 and 2015 academic years from N = 1481 students in nine Australian high schools. Longitudinal structural equation modelling indicated that parent, peer, and teacher social support significantly predicted gains in adaptability and self-efficacy; adaptability, self-efficacy, and teacher support significantly predicted gains in PB goal setting; and PB goal setting significantly predicted gains in both academic engagement and achievement. These findings extend and augment previous work by providing support for the positive role adaptability and PB goal setting play in student academic functioning over time. Similarly, this investigation confirms the viability of including adaptability and PB goal setting within SCT’s triadic model and provides evidence for their impact within the larger psycho-educational terrain.

Introduction

The triadic model is proposed under social cognitive theory (SCT; Bandura, 1986) to explain the factors that influence human agency. This model examines the interactions among environmental (e.g., social support), personal (e.g., self-factors and self-strategies), and behavioral (e.g., academic outcomes) factors that shape human functioning. Although past investigations of human agency using the triadic model have emphasized self-efficacy (e.g., Bandura, 1991, Bandura, 2006), the model also articulates the importance of self-regulation and goal setting (Bandura, 1991). Importantly, recent research has shed new light on these two constructs that may hold renewed relevance to SCT and its conceptual elements (e.g., Martin, 2006, Martin et al., 2012, Martin et al., 2013). Accordingly, harnessing the triadic model (Bandura, 1986, Bandura, 2001), the present investigation explores how adaptability (a recently proposed construct under the self-regulation umbrella; e.g., Martin et al., 2012, Martin et al., 2013) and personal best (PB) goal setting (a recently proposed construct under the goal setting umbrella; e.g., Martin & Liem, 2010) impact gains in students’ academic engagement and achievement. Adaptability is a specific form of self-regulation regarding students’ ability to psycho-behaviorally adjust in the face of change, novelty, or uncertainty (Martin et al., 2012, Martin et al., 2013). PB goal setting represents a growth-oriented and self-referenced approach to goal setting (Martin & Elliot, 2016a).

As new psycho-educational constructs (such as adaptability and PB goal setting) are identified, there can be yields in revisiting classic models to ascertain the role of novel constructs in seminal conceptualizing. Indeed, given the demonstrated predictive validity of the triadic model in high school populations (the student population of interest for this investigation; Alliman-Brissett et al., 2004, Bong, 2001, Bong, 2004, Zimmerman et al., 1992) and the well-documented motivational decline in high school students (e.g.,Abbott-Chapman et al., 2014, Cooper, 2013, Wang and Eccles, 2012, Wigfield, 1994; see also Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005 for evidence of even earlier declines), there are empirical grounds to examine how two recent motivational constructs may function within this theoretical space and population. As such, this investigation provides an opportunity to examine how adaptability and PB goal setting impact high school students’ academic outcomes, as well as augment current understanding of the triadic model in this population.

Following cross-sectional work by Burns, Martin, and Collie (2017) and drawing on Bandura’s (1986) triadic framework, we examine a process by which: social support from parents, peers, and teachers (environmental factors) predict students’ self-efficacy, perceived control, adaptability (“self-factors” within personal factors), and PB goal setting (“self-strategies” within personal factors); self-efficacy, perceived control, and adaptability also predict PB goal setting; and, PB goal setting predicts academic engagement and achievement (behavioral factors). Fig. 1 demonstrates. Extending prior research (Burns et al., 2017), we employed a longitudinal approach that enables us to more clearly ascertain the unique role of adaptability and PB goal setting in predicting gains in students’ academic engagement and achievement. Indeed, because SCT argues that the comparative influence of each factor must be examined over time (Bandura, 1986), the present longitudinal investigation further adds to current understanding of the triadic process.

Section snippets

Adaptability: Definition and development

Adaptability refers to one’s capacity to cognitively, behaviorally, and emotionally self-regulate in response to changing, novel, or uncertain circumstances (Martin et al., 2012, Martin et al., 2013). This is referred to as the tripartite (cognition, behavior, emotion) perspective of adaptability. A student’s ability to effectively manage their response to change, novelty, and uncertainty is critical for managing and engaging with academic demands. Adaptability is considered especially relevant

SCT and a proposed longitudinal model

SCT utilizes the triadic model to argue that there are three central factors that impact human functioning: environmental, personal, and behavioral (Bandura, 1986). Following well-established operationalizing and ordering of the triadic model (e.g., Alliman-Brissett et al., 2004, Zimmerman et al., 1992), environmental factors are examined by way of parent, peer, and teacher social support in the current investigation. Personal factors comprise “self-factors” and “self-strategies”. Self-factors

Overview of present investigation

Utilizing a longitudinal design to examine the relationships theorized under the triadic model of SCT, the present study examines (1) how two novel constructs, adaptability and PB goal setting, function alongside the well-established SCT constructs in the triadic model (viz. social support, self-efficacy, perceived control), and (2) the unique impact of these factors, especially adaptability and PB goal setting, on shifts in students’ academic outcomes by way of engagement and achievement. The

Participants and Sampling

Data were collected across two consecutive academic years (once in 2014 and once in 2015) from nine Australian high schools. The schools in the sample were local catholic or private schools across New South Wales, Victoria, and Western Australia. These schools were chosen based on the second author’s professional networks in the education community and aimed at capturing a nationally generalizable sample. The longitudinal sample (N = 1481) comprised students who were present at both data

Descriptive and psychometric analyses

The descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviations, skew, kurtosis), reliabilities (Cronbach’s α), and factor loadings for multi-item factors are reported in Table 1. The statistics for skewness and kurtosis indicate that each factor demonstrated approximately normal distribution. The reliability scores, as based on a Cronbach’s α greater than 0.65 (Anastasi and Urbina, 1997, Sattler, 2001), demonstrate the internal consistency of all factors. The factor loadings for each multi-item

Discussion

As informed by the triadic model of SCT, this longitudinal investigation examined the role of adaptability and PB goal setting in shifts (gains or declines) in students’ academic outcomes. The findings largely supported the hypothesized model. Major findings and their implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed in turn.

Conclusion

As new psycho-educational constructs are identified, there can be yields in revisiting classic theories to ascertain the role of these new constructs in seminal conceptualizing. The present investigation examined how two such constructs, adaptability and PB goal setting, operated alongside more “traditional” constructs in SCT’s triadic model. Findings demonstrated the positive impact of adaptability and PB goal setting on gains in students’ academic outcomes. They have also added to the growing

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Marianne Mansour for assisting with data collection.

Funding

This study was funded by the Australian Research Council (Grant #DP140104294).

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