Achievement goals

Learning in every context is influenced by the social factors such as the people with whom the learners are communicating in that specific learning environment. As the role that social factors can potentially play in the process of education seems not to have been explored comprehensively in the field of English language teaching, in general, and in the Iranian educational context, in particular, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of both social goals and achievement goals on emotional, behavioral, and cognitive engagement, in an academic context. The participants of the study consisted of 302 undergraduate students (88 females, 206 males, 8 unspecified), majoring in English literature at two state universities and two private universities in Iran. The data were collected through one questionnaire consisting of items relating to different types of social goals and various types of engagement. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Regression Analysis were conducted to analyze the data. The results of CFA confirmed the validity of such goals in our context. Also, regression analysis showed that mastery goals, social status goals, and social concern goals predicted variance in different facets of engagement.

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between basic psychological needs and achievement goals and students' adjustment. The research method was correlation, and the study’s population included all students of Kharzmi University. The sample consisted of 200 students (i.e., 100 females and 100 males) who were selected through convenience sampling method. The instrument included Basic Psychological Needs scale (Guardia, Deci & Ryan, 2000), Midgley’s Goal Orientations scale (GOS) (1998) and Farahbkhsh’s College Adjustment scale (CAS). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression. The result showed that there were significant positive relationships between the psychological needs, autonomy, competence and social, academic, emotional adjustment and self-discovery. Moreover, there were significant positive relationships between mastery goal achievement, social, academic and emotional adjustment, attachment to the field of study or the university and self-discovery. In addition, there was a positive relationship between approach-performance achievement and attachment to the field and the university. The results also showed that none of the dimensions of psychological needs and achievement goals could explain the students’ adjustment.

Objective:    This study was conducted to investigate the mediation of self-regulated learning strategies in the relationship between achievement goals and test anxiety. Methods:  The present study was a descriptive-correlational research. It included 408 Participants (234 female and 174 male students) of University of Birjand who were selected by convenience sampling method in 2021. Pintridge and DeGrutte self-regulatory learning strategies questionnaire (1990), Friedman and Jacob test anxiety questionnaire (1997) and Middleton and Midgley progress goals questionnaire (1997) were used to collect data and the online links of these questionnaires were provided for the participants. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods such as Pearson correlation and structural equation were used to analyze the data. Results:  Findings showed that achievement goals had an effect on self-regulated learning strategies and test anxiety (p <0.05). Conclusion: Results showed that attention to self-regulated learning strategies and achievement goals was important in improving students' test anxiety. Therefore, the therapists are recommended to improve test anxiety in their treatment meetings consider self-regulation learning strategies.

The present study aimed at exploring the predictive validity of achievement goals for EFL university students’ attainment emotions, and academic success in the context of Iran. To this end, 440 EFL university students responded to the relevant instruments. The results revealed that learners’ mastery-approach, mastery-avoidance, and performance-approach goals were significantly positively correlated with positive attainment emotions, and negatively associated with negative attainment emotions. Furthermore, EFL learners’ performance-avoidance goals were significantly negatively associated with their positive attainment emotions, and positively related to their negative attainment emotions. Additionally, EFL learners’ mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals were significant predictors of all attainment emotions, while EFL learners’ mastery-avoidance goal was a significant predictor of their hope, anger, and hopelessness. Besides, EFL learners’ achievement goals significantly correlated with their academic success. Finally, all achievement goals predicted students’ academic success, and also mastery-approach goal was the strongest predictor of students’ academic success. The results can benefit EFL teachers, and learners to grasp a better picture of the association between achievement goals and attainment emotions, and academic success of EFL students in the context of Iran.

Previous studies generally showed that achievement goals are linked with academic engagement. However, the association between the newly-developed model of achievement goals (i.e. the 3*2 model) and agentic engagement has received relatively little attention. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of this relationship is unclear, more specifically, among university students. Guided by the assumptions of the control-value theory of emotions, epistemic curiosity could be a potential mediator. The current study aimed to explore the mediating role of epistemic curiosity in the relationship between achievement goals and agentic engagement among 350 university students from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the academic year of 2019-2020. Participants completed the measures of the Achievement Goals Questionnaire, Epistemic Curiosity Scale, and Agentic Engagement Scale. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 24.0 and AMOS software. The findings showed that epistemic curiosity significantly mediated the association between approach goals and avoidance goals with agentic engagement (P<0.001). Overall, the findings offer new evidence on the association between variables of the present study and shed light on the underlying processes. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

This study addresses the academic challenges faced by students with learning difficulties by examining the mediating role of psychological capital and achievement goals (mastery and performance) in the relationship between family emotional climate (FEC) and academic well-being. The study utilized a cross-sectional correlational design to assess contemporaneous associations between the investigated variables. The sample consisted of 150 high school students with a history of learning difficulties, selected from those who had recorded at special education centers in four districts of Ahvaz during elementary school. Data were collected using self-report questionnaires assessing FEC, psychological capital, achievement goals, and academic well-being. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the hypothesized relationships. This study identified positive associations between psychological capital, mastery goals, and academic well-being (p<0.01), while performance goals showed a negative link to well-being (p<0.01). Interestingly, a positive FEC fostered psychological capital and mastery goals but discouraged performance goals, with no direct effect on well-being (p<0.01). results revealed that psychological capital and achievement goals significantly mediated the positive relationship between FEC and academic well-being (p<0.01). In other words, FEC fostered students' psychological capital and mastery goals, which in turn, led to greater academic well-being. Interestingly, this analysis suggests that the beneficial effect of a positive family environment on academic well-being is achieved indirectly, through its influence on these psychological resources. These results suggest that supportive family environments promote academic success by fostering specific psychological resources, rather than directly impacting well-being.