Perceived Social Support and Early Adolescents' Achievement: The Mediational Roles of Motivational Beliefs and Emotions

• NCJ Number: 229536
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2010 Pages: 36-46
• Author(s): Wondimu Ahmed; Alexander Minnaert; Greetje van der Werf; Hans Kuyper
• Date Published: January 2010
• Length: 11 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Netherlands

Annotation

This study examined the motivational and affective pathways through which social support may influence the academic achievement of early adolescents.

Abstract

Although a bulk of literature shows that perceived social support (PSS) influences academic achievement, the mechanisms through which this effect operates received little empirical attention. The present study examined the multiple mediational effects of motivational beliefs (competence beliefs and subjective value) and emotions (anxiety and enjoyment) that may account for the empirical link between PSS (from parents, peers and teachers) and mathematics achievement. The participants of the study were 238 grade 7 students (average age = 13.2 years, girls = 54 percent, predominantly native Dutch middle class socioeconomic status). A bootstrap analysis (a relatively new technique for testing multiple mediation) revealed that the motivational beliefs and the emotions, jointly, partially mediated the effect of PSS on achievement. The proportion of the effects mediated, however, varied across the support sources from 55 percent to 75 percent. The findings lend support to the theoretical assumptions in the literature that supportive social relationships influence achievement through motivational and affective pathways. Tables, figures, and references (Published Abstract)