INFLUENCE OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF SCHOOL STUDENTS

Purpose: The aim of the current research was to understand the role of achievement motivation and psychological adjustment on the academic performance of the school students. Methodology: A cross-sectional research design was employed for the study. A sample of 283 urban adolescent school students participated in the study. The students were administered measures of achievement motivation and psychological adjustment. The total percentage of marks secured in the tenth standard was used as the measure of academic performance. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple hierarchical regression analysis were performed to analyze the obtained data. SPSS version 21 was used for data analysis. Main Findings: The results revealed a significant association of achievement motivation and educational adjustment with the academic performance of the students. However, there was no significant association between emotional and social adjustment with academic performance. Applications: The observations shed light on how cultivating enhanced student engagement and nurturing aspirations both within and outside classrooms may enhance the academic achievement of school students. Thus, the findings can provide greater insight to teachers, psychologists, and educational institutions to better plan the academic environment around the students. Novelty/Originality: The study gives a contemporary model to enhance the academic performance of students. Contrary to the popular perception, the results of the current study indicate no significant association of emotional and social adjustment with academic performance. However, educational adjustment and achievement motivation are associated with academic performance

The Relationship between Personality Traits and COVID-19 Anxiety: A Mediating Model

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of fear and anxiety globally. The current study attempted to investigate the association among the big five personality traits and the two factors of COVID-19 pandemic anxiety (fear and somatic concern). Further, sleep quality as a mediator between personality traits and pandemic anxiety was also assessed. The study involved a cross-sectional sample of 296 adult Indians who were administered the 10-item short version of BFI along with the COVID-19 Pandemic Anxiety Scale and Sleep Quality Scale. Path analysis was used to test the theoretical model that we proposed. The overall model has explained 6% and 36% of the variance, respectively, for the factors of fear and somatic concern of COVID-19 pandemic anxiety. The path analysis model indicated that only the trait of neuroticism showed a significant direct and indirect effect on pandemic anxiety in the sample. Those scoring high on neuroticism indicated high levels of fear as well as somatic concern. Neuroticism also showed partial mediation through sleep quality on the factor of somatic concern. Agreeableness was the only other personality trait that indicated a significantly negative relationship with the factor of somatic concern. These relationships were independent of age, gender, and occupational status. These findings provide a preliminary insight into the slightly different relationship which has emerged between personality and COVID-19 pandemic anxiety in comparison to general anxiety