The Effect of Action Orientation on the Academic Performance of Undergraduate Marketing Majors

Due to the effect of academic performance on employment opportunities and admission to graduate schools, researchers have long recognized the need for identifying factors that are linked to the academic performance of undergraduate marketing students. This research proposes a model that investigates the relationships among motivation, effort, personality, stress, and academic performance. Action-state orientation (AO-SO) is an important factor in students’ emotional exhaustion and effort. AO-SO relates to individual differences in the capacity to regulate emotions, cognitions, and behaviors to accomplish intentional actions. AO-SO consists of three dimensions: disengagement (versus preoccupation), volatility (versus persistency), and hesitation (versus initiative). Results indicate that persistency and initiative are positively related to effort, which is an important antecedent of academic performance. Also, disengagement is negatively related to emotional exhaustion