Abstract
The goal of the present study was to analyze the joint role that non-cognitive (motivation and self-esteem) and cognitive (verbal fluency and reasoning) factors play on academic achievement, both as a global score and in relation to specific subjects, such as language and literature and mathematics. We also analyzed the mediating role of cognitive factors. We recruited a sample of 133 primary education students (aged 6–9 years old) (47.6% girls, 52.6% boys), to whom various measures of the above-indicated variables were administered. Several predictive models were tested through a mediational regression analysis. The results indicated the relevance of intrinsic motivation together with self-esteem as predictors of academic achievement mediated by the cognitive abilities verbal fluency and reasoning. These relationships differed depending on the specific subject. We discuss the educational implications of these findings and emphasize, on the one hand, that academic achievement depends on both cognitive and non-cognitive factors and, on the other hand, the malleability of cognitive factors, as they seem to improve based on motivation and self-esteem.
Highlights
Learning and, its measurement in the educational field through academic success, which is commonly evaluated by academic performance, is a topic of interest for public institutions
There are two broad research lines to analyze the predictors of academic performance, understood as the product of the learning process that results from the different factors acting on it [2]
Academic performance involves abilities such as reasoning [5] and those related to the verbal component [6], from which more information is obtained for educational practice, as these abilities go beyond general intelligence and are useful for explaining the students’ variety of academic skills [7,8]
Summary
Its measurement in the educational field through academic success, which is commonly evaluated by academic performance, is a topic of interest for public institutions. An example of this is the annual Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) [1] reports used as an indicator of students’ general knowledge in different countries. Another research line highlights the role of non-cognitive factors, such as motivation [9] and self-esteem [10], as crucial elements in academic performance
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