Academic buoyancy is a construct relevant to the schooling lives of students, defining how they overcome or 'bounce back' from everyday academic adversity. The present study was correlational in design and examined academic buoyancy in 191 upper primary-aged students, focusing on its association with reading and mathematics performance, and the…

This longitudinal study examines the relationship between young people's creative and performing arts participation (e.g., in dance, drama, film, music, visual arts) and their arts self-concept. Drawing on the positive youth development (PYD) framework and the reciprocal effects model (REM) of self-concept, a cross-lagged panel design is…

There is much research into teachers' workplace wellbeing, but very little research investigating teacher assistants' wellbeing in the workplace -- especially those who work in classrooms where students with a disability are present. Research among teachers has identified adaptability as a key to their workplace wellbeing. Following this research,…

Personal Best (PB) goals are defined as specific, challenging, and competitively self-referenced goals involving a level of performance or effort that meets or exceeds an individual's previous best. Much of the available research underpinning arguments for PB goal-setting is self-report-based; thus, the causal effect of PB goals on learning…

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the…

The study tested three theoretically/conceptually hypothesized longitudinal models of academic processes leading to academic performance. Based on a longitudinal sample of 1866 high-school students across two consecutive years of high school (Time 1 and Time 2), the model with the most superior heuristic value demonstrated: (a) academic motivation…

While much research has outlined the importance of intra-psychic factors in predicting workplace success, it is rare that attention is given to the development of these factors in training for human service professions (e.g. psychology, clergy, nursing). Accordingly, the present study explores differences in self-concept, a key intra-psychic…

Life satisfaction is an important component of psychological health and wellbeing. Although personality is consistently linked to life satisfaction, its "innate" and stable nature can make it a difficult target for intervention by practitioners. More malleable and context-specific factors such as multidimensional self-concept may prove…

The present study explores the validity of a recent stages of change (SoC) measure and algorithm among a sample of late adolescents. MANOVA and structural equation modeling are used to assess the relationship between five SoC groups (precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance) and a set of dependent measures including…

The transition from school to further education and work is one of immense change that impacts physical activity attitudes and engagement in adulthood. The Stages of Change (SOC) model, which resides under the transtheoretical framework, has been proposed as one way to measure and evaluate physical activity uptake and maintenance. The current…

Young people's confidence in their creative abilities, as well as their beliefs about whether these abilities are fixed or malleable, play potentially important roles in educators' efforts to foster creativity. This study explores a multidimensional model of young people's creative self-beliefs that comprises creative self-efficacy,…

Critical questions in educational psychology research to be addressed in this paper concern the casual relationship between academic self-concept, academic motivation and its effect on academic achievement. Do changes in academic self-concept and academic motivation lead to changes in subsequent academic achievement? Various studies have attempted…

The present study examined the implications of grade retention (repeating a grade) and social promotion (automatic promotion to the next grade each year) for high school students' academic and non-academic outcomes. Based on data from 3261 high school students, structural equation modeling demonstrated that, after controlling for interactions with…

The aim of the present study was to better understand the combined and unique effects of teacher-student and parent-child relationships in students' achievement motivation and self-esteem. Participants were 3450 high school students administered items assessing their interpersonal relationships, academic motivation and engagement, academic…

This article explores an integrative framework for a motivational psychology for the education of Indigenous students. Drawing on and adapting Graham's (1994) taxonomy for motivational psychology, it is suggested that enhancing the educational outcomes of Indigenous students involves addressing factors relevant to the self (positive identity,…