School Adjustment for Hong Kong Undergraduates: The Correlation Among Parental Acceptance-Rejection, Achievement Emotion, Academic Achievement and Self-esteem

Abstract

The present research was conducted to investigate the correlation between school adjustments, parental acceptance-rejection, achievement emotion, academic achievement and self-esteem of university students in Hong Kong. The sample of the study consisted of 216 students by convenient sampling from universities in Hong Kong, to participate in completing 6 questionnaires. Confirmatory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha were used to test the validity and evaluate the reliability of the questionnaires, respectively. Path analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data, whereas structural equation modeling was conducted to examine the relationship between school adjustment, achievement emotions and perceived competence. There were two main findings in this study. First, maternal neglect and paternal rejection predicted significantly school adjustment. Second, school adjustment acted as a predictor on achievement emotion, which achievement emotions influence the perceived competence. This result may be the first study to explore the inter-relationship among these three variables. Therefore, it provides a new theoretical framework for future university students’ research. Educators can know more about how the school adjustment in university affects the achievement emotion and thus the students’ perceived competence. This can help them to develop more programs or workshops for university students for the purpose of adjusting to the university.