A Comparative Study of Students' Academic Optimism and Hope, and Their Relationships with Academic Achievement

Abstract

Background: It is critical to identify the factors affecting the academic success of students in the context of medical sciences. The research approaches in positive psychology have shown that the variables of hope and optimism play important roles in the academic achievement of college students. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare and evaluate the relationship between the academic achievement of medical and paramedical students with hope and optimism. Methods: A descriptive-correlative and cross-sectional research design was adopted in this study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all medical and paramedical students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. A total of 350 students were selected based on Cochran's sampling formula, out of who 306 ones completed and returned the questionnaires. In order to collect the required data, two valid and reliable scales, including the Adult Hope Scale (AHS) and the Academic Optimism Questionnaire, were used. Moreover, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed to analyze the data by using SPSS 21V software. Results: The findings showed that students’ academic optimism (r = 0.16, P ≤ 0.01) and hope (r = 0.17, P ≤ 0.01) were positively and significantly associated with their academic achievement. The results also indicated that there was a considerable, positive correlation between student identification and their academic achievement (r = 0.197, P ≤ 0.01). Furthermore, a significantly positive relationship was detected between student hope dimensions in terms of agency thinking (r = -0.15, P ≤ 0.05), pathways thinking (r = -0.17, P ≤ 0.01), and academic achievement. The findings demonstrated that paramedical students were significantly more optimistic than medical students (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions: It was concluded that hope and academic optimism may have increased and improved students’ academic performance and, consequently, had a positive impact on their success and achievement in universities.