Abstract
This study aimed to analyze the relations between class competition and primary school students’ academic achievement, considering the possible mediating roles of learning anxiety and learning engagement. Participants were 1,479 primary school students from four primary schools in Zhejiang, China. We analyzed participants’ scores for class competition, learning anxiety, and learning engagement and their last two final exam scores. Class competition did not directly predict academic achievement, but indirectly affected academic achievement through learning anxiety and learning engagement. There were three effect paths: (1) class competition negatively predicted academic achievement by increasing learning anxiety; (2) class competition positively predicted academic achievement by promoting learning engagement; and (3) class competition affected academic achievement through multiple mediating effects of learning anxiety and learning engagement. This study highlights the important roles of learning anxiety and learning engagement in class competition and academic achievement, which have theoretical and practical significance.
Highlights
IntroductionCompetition is a ubiquitous and age-old behavior pattern (Sun et al, 2015), and has become a prevalent problem across countries, cultures, and ethnic groups (Wong et al, 2006)
The average class competition score for primary school students was 3.16 points, indicating that the class competition atmosphere of primary school students was in a moderate level
Class competition was significantly positively correlated with learning anxiety and learning engagement, learning engagement was significantly positively correlated with academic achievement, and learning anxiety was significantly
Summary
Competition is a ubiquitous and age-old behavior pattern (Sun et al, 2015), and has become a prevalent problem across countries, cultures, and ethnic groups (Wong et al, 2006). The primary school stage is the beginning of a person’s academic career, and it is the basis of subsequent learning and future development. Parents often pay much attention to students’ academic achievement since children commence primary school life. This is especially reflected in students from some Asian countries such as China (Deng and Zou, 2015). Primary school students may be unknowingly faced with academic competition. Children spend most of their time at school, which, after family, is the most important environment affecting child development (Volk et al, 2015). Because primary school students spend most of their school time in classes, academic competition among students is mainly reflected in class competition (Hu, 2018)
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