Emotional well-being and social reinforcement as predictors of motivation and academic expectations

Abstract

Nowadays there is a tendency to highlight the significant contribution of students' socio-emotional perceptions about academic motivation and expectations in Higher Education. This study aims to analyze the relationships among emotional well-being, desire for social reinforcement, intrinsic motivation, the perceived value of the task, and academic expectations. To do this, 455 university students from the Spanish educational system filled out an online questionnaire. The application of a Structural Equation Model (SEM) underscores the fact that emotional well-being and the desire for social reinforcement have a positive effect on intrinsic motivation for learning. In turn, this motivation has been a significant predictor of the perceived value of homework and academic expectations. In addition, various mediating effects are observed to influence high academic expectations. These results highlight the need for emotional care and social reinforcement in initial university training programs.