Situating Attributes of Academic Well-being within a Motivational Framework: A Longitudinal Investigation

Abstract

The notion of personal well-being experience at school is an important component for consideration. Why do some students like to attend school, whereas others are not? Why it is that disengagement is relatively pronounced for some students? These questions, we contend, form an important premise of a person's well-being and schooling experiences. This research investigation, longitudinal in nature, focused on an examination of students' well-being experiences within the framework of motivational beliefs. This amalgamation of two major theoretical orientations within one study is irmovative and of significance. Across four waves of data, we explored the patterns in causal flows between different attributes of well-being (e.g., liking for school) and hope, self-efficacy, and self-esteem. Two hundred and forty-five Year 10 students (145 girls, 100 boys) took part in the study. Structural equation analyses, using MPLus 7.2, produced a number of notable findings: (i) the positive differential impacts of Time I attributes of well-being on Time 2 hope, Time 2 self-efficacy, and Time 2 self-esteem, (ii) the impacts of Time 2 self-efficacy and Time 2 self-esteem on Time 3 attributes of well-being and Time 4 achievement outcome, and (iii) the mediating role of Time 2 self-efficacy. Our final solution also provided moderate evidence to support the different causal patterns and trajectories of well-being and motivational attributes. In summation, our longitudinal research inquiry has made a theoretical contribution to the study of personal well-being at school, yielding a number of potential educational-social impUcations for practice. How do we encourage and cultivate enriched well-being experiences? What are some of the strategies, based on self-beliefs and hope theories, that we could consider for development and implementation?