Understanding the Impact of Social Support on Academic Engagement: The Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy

Abstract

Currently, most undergraduates face insufficient learning motivation and inadequate academic engagement, two conditions that are jointly affected by external environmental elements as well as personal psychological factors. The present research examines the shaping effect of perceived social support on students’ academic engagement, and investigates the mediating pathway of academic self-efficacy within this correlational link. The main findings are as follows: First, the three constructs—perceived social support, academic self-efficacy, and academic engagement—exhibited significant positive pairwise correlations. Academic self-efficacy served as a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived social support and academic engagement. Perceived social support exerted a direct positive predictive effect on both academic engagement and academic self-efficacy, and indirectly and positively influenced academic engagement via academic self-efficacy. Secondly, significant differences were observed across the variables depending on whether students held student leadership positions; those in such roles scored significantly higher than their peers in terms of perceived social support, academic self-efficacy and level of academic engagement.