Self-regulation in college: The influence of self-efficacy, need satisfaction, and stress on GPA, persistence, and satisfaction

Abstract

Recently, management scholars have applied the transactional theory of stress to distinguish between challenging and hindering stressors, and established their differential relationships with an assortment of key outcomes. Additionally, needs-based motivational theories (e.g., self-determination theory) have been increasingly applied to studies of work and school motivation. This study integrates the challenge-hindrance distinction with need satisfaction and self-efficacy in a model predicting important academic outcomes in a representative sample of college students (N = 383). The hypothesized model demonstrated excellent fit with the data, and although not all structural relationships were statistically significant, meaningful effect sizes were estimated in the expected direction for nearly all relationships. Collectively, predictors accounted for substantial portions of variance in end-of-semester GPA (19%), school satisfaction (65%), hours withdrawn (6%), and transfer intentions (11%). Further, need satisfaction predicted students’ intention to persist beyond the effects of academic self-efficacy and stress perceptions. Taken together, these results support the relevance of self-regulatory theories to academic functioning, and argue for their inclusion in educational policy and work/school design research.