Religiosity, Optimism, and Academic Resilience in Islamic Boarding Schools: A Mediation Analysis

Abstract

Academic resilience is a crucial factor for students’ success, particularly in high-demand environments such as Islamic boarding schools. Although previous studies have shown inconsistent findings on the relationship between religiosity and academic resilience, empirical evidence indicates that students are vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and frustration due to academic pressure, thus requiring strong internal resources. This study examines the role of religiosity and optimism in predicting academic resilience and tests optimism's mediating role. This study employed a quantitative survey method involving 97 students (47 males and 50 females) in an Islamic Boarding School, consisting of 33 tenth-grade, 31 eleventh-grade, and 34 twelfth-grade students, selected using proportional sampling. Data were analyzed using the Baron and Kenny approach and bootstrapping. The results showed that religiosity (β = 0.507, p < 0.001) and optimism (β = 0.286, p < 0.01) significantly predicted academic resilience (R² = 0.413). Optimism was confirmed as a significant partial mediator, indicated by the decrease in the religiosity coefficient from 0.580 to 0.507. Practically, these findings imply that enhancing students’ academic resilience should involve strengthening religiosity alongside developing optimism as a key psychological mechanism. Keywords: Academic resilience; Islamic boarding school students; Optimism; Religiosity