Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Social cognitive and demographic factors related to adolescents’ intrinsic satisfaction with school

  • Published:
Social Psychology of Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Based on social cognitive theory, the purpose of this study is to examine certain social cognitive and demographic factors involved in intrinsic satisfaction amongst secondary school students of different cultural backgrounds in a new migrant-receiving country. Given the role of schools in youth acculturation and adaptation, it is important to detect the variables related to successful academic adaptation of adolescents. The sample comprised of 938 South American, African and Spanish adolescents who settled in Spain. Correlation analyses showed that age, social self-efficacy, academic self-concept, attribution style and intrinsic satisfaction were related. ANOVAs revealed that girls displayed a greater tendency to attribute their outcomes to internal factors than boys. Furthermore, older and Spanish adolescents displayed lower levels of intrinsic satisfaction than younger and immigrant adolescents. Path analyses found that social self-efficacy and academic self-concept were the best predictors of intrinsic satisfaction. Therefore, the promotion of social self-efficacy and academic self-concept should increase intrinsic satisfaction in schools. In addition, research into the role of cultural origin in self-regulation in schools may be necessary.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Atienza F. L., Balaguer I., Moreno Y. (2002) El perfil de autopercepciones para niños: Análisis de la validez factorial y la fiabilidad en la versión castellana [Self-perception profile for children: factorial validity and reliability in the Spanish version]. Psicothema 14: 659–664

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A. (1977) Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review 84: 191–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A. (1982) Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist 37: 122–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura A. (1997) Self-efficacy: the exercise of control. Freeman and Company, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (2006). Adolescent development from an agentic perspective. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (Vol. 5, pp. 1–43). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing

  • Bandura A., Barbaranelli C., Caprara G. V., Pastorelli C. (1996) Multifaceted impact of self-efficacy beliefs on academic functioning. Child Development 67: 1206–1222

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bentler, P. M. (1995). Eqs structural equation program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.

  • Briones E., Tabernero C., Arenas A. (2005) Variables Psicosociales relacionadas con el proceso de integración social de los estudiantes inmigrantes [Psychosocial variables related to the process of social integration of immigrant students]. Cultura y Educación 17: 337–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Briones, E., Tabernero, C., & Arenas, A. (2006, July). Academic Satisfaction in the secondary school students: effect of demographic and psychosocial factors. Poster presented at the 26th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Athens, Greece.

  • Briones, E., Verkuyten, M., Cosano, J. M. Y., & Tabernero, C. (2011). Psychological adaptation of Moroccan and Ecuadorean adolescents in Spain. International Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1080/00207594.2011.569722.

  • Byrne, B. M. (1994). Structural equation modeling with EQS and EQS/Windows: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  • Castillo I., Balaguer I., Duda J. L. (2001) Perspectivas de meta de los adolescentes en el contexto académico [Goals perspectives of adolescents in academic context]. Psicothema 13: 79–86

    Google Scholar 

  • Castillo I., Balaguer I., Duda J. L. (2003) Las teorías personales sobre el logro académico y su relación con la alienación escolar [Personal theories of academic achievement and their relationship to alienation from school]. Psicothema 15: 75–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosnoe R., Johnson M. K., Elder G. H. (2004) Intergenerational bonding in school: The behavioral and contextual correlates of student-teacher relationships. Sociology of Education 77: 60–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamantopoulos A., Riefler P., Roth K. P. (2008) Advancing formative measurement models. Journal of Business Research 61: 1203–1218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duda J. L., Nicholls J. G. (1992) Dimensions of achievement motivation in schoolwork and sport. Journal of Educational Psychology 84: 290–299

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck C. S., Leggett E. L. (1988) A social cognitive approach to motivation and personality. Psychological Review 95: 256–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dweck C. S., Licht B. G. (1980) Learned helplessness and intellectual achievement. In: Seligman M. E. P., Barger J. (eds) Human helplessness: Theory and application. Academic Press, New York, NY, pp 197–221

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles J., Wigfield A. (2002) Motivational beliefs, values and goals. In: Fiske S. T., Schacter D. L., Sahn-Waxler C. (eds) Annual Review of Psychology. Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA, pp 109–132

    Google Scholar 

  • Entwisle D. R. (1993) Schools and the adolescent. In: Feldman S. S., Elliot G. R. (eds) At the Threshold. The Developing Adolescent. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 197–224

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan C., Mak A. (1998) Measuring social self-efficacy in a culturally diverse student population. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 26: 131–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher G., Ward C. (1988) Attribution theory and processes: A cross-cultural perspective. In: Bond M. (eds) The cross-cultural challenge to social psychology. Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp 230–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Harter S. (1985) Manual for the self-perception profile for children. University of Denver, Denver, CO

    Google Scholar 

  • Heine S. J., Kitayama S., Lehman D. R., Takata T., Ide E., Leung C. et al (2001) Divergent consequences of success and failure in Japan and North America: An investigation of self-improving motivations and malleable selves. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 81: 599–615

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu L.-T., Bentler P.M., Kano Y. (1992) Can test statistics in covariance structure analysis be trusted?. Psychological Bulletin 112: 351–362

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu L., Bentler P.M. (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6: 1–55

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • INE: (2008) National immigrant survey 2007. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Madrid

  • King A., Wold B., Tudor-Smith C., Harel Y. (1996) The health of youth. A cross-national survey. WHO, Canada

    Google Scholar 

  • Kline R. B. (1998) Principles and practices of structural equation modeling. Guilford Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosic A. (2002) Acculturation attitudes, need for cognitive closure, and adaptation of immigrants. Journal of Social Psychology 142: 179–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loukas A., Murphy J. L. (2007) Middle school student perceptions of school climate: Examining protective functions on subsequent adjustment problems. Journal of School Psychology 45: 293–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell S. E., Cole D. A. (2007) Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods 12: 23–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mischel W., Shoda Y. (1995) A cognitive-affective system theory of personality: Reconceptualizing situations, dispositions, dynamics, and invariance in personality structure. Psychological Review 102: 246–268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholls J. G., Cheung P. C., Lauer J., Patashnick M. (1989) Individual differences in academic motivation: Perceived ability, goals, beliefs, and values. Learning and Individual Differences 16: 63–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okun M. A., Braver M. W., Weir R. M. (1990) Grade level differences in school satisfaction. Social Indicators Research 22: 419–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pastorelli C., Caprara G. V., Barbaranelli C., Rola J., Rozsa S., Bandura A. (2001) The structure of children’s perceived self-efficacy: A cross-national study. European Journal of Psychological Assessment 17: 87–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phinney J. S. (1990) Ethnic identity in adolescence and adulthood: A review of research. Psychological Bulletin 108: 499–514

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phinney J. S., Baumann K., Blanton S. (2001) Life goals and attributions for expected outcomes among adolescents from five ethnic groups. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 23: 363–377

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Podsakoff P. M., MacKenzie S. B., Lee J. Y., Podsakoff N. P. (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology 88: 879–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan R. M., Deci E. L. (2000) Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25: 54–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan R. M., Kuhl J., Deci E. L. (1997) Nature and autonomy: Organizational view of social and neurobiological aspects of self-regulation in behavior and development. Development and Psychopathology 9: 701–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samdal O., Nutbeam D., Wold B., Kannas L. (1998) Achieving health and educational goals through schools-a study of the important of the school climate and the students’ satisfaction with school. Health Education Research 13: 383–397

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Searle W., Ward C. (1990) The prediction of psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural transitions. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 14: 449–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg L., Brown B. B., Dornbusch S. M. (1996) Beyond the classroom. Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Usher E. L., Pajares F. (2006) Sources of academic and self-regulatory efficacy beliefs of entering middle school students. Contemporary Educational Psychology 31: 125–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Geel M., Vedder P. (2010) The adaptation of non-western and Muslim immigrant adolescents in the Netherlands: An immigrant paradox?. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 51: 398–402

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh S. D., Harel-Fisch Y., Fogel-Grinvald H. (2010) Parents, teachers and peer relations as predictors of risk behaviors and mental well-being among immigrant and Israeli born adolescents. Social Science & Medicine 70: 976–984

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiner B. (1985) An attribution theory of achievement, motivation and emotion. Psychological Review 92: 548–573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead G., Anderson W., Mitchell K. (1987) Children‘s causal attributions to self and other as a function of outcome and task. Journal of Educational Psychology 79: 192–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wigfield A., Eccles J., Pintrich P. R. (1996) Development between the ages 11 and 25. In: Berliner D., Calfee R. (eds) Handbook of educational psychology. Macmillan, New York, NY, pp 148–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman B. J. (2000) Self-Efficacy: An essential motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychology 25: 82–91

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zimmerman, B. J., & Cleary, T. J. (2006). Adolescents’ development of personal agency. The role of self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulatory skill. In F. Pajares & T. Urdan (Eds.), Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents (Vol. 5, pp. 45–69), Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Cantabria, Av. de los Castros s/n, 39005, Santander, Cantabria, Spain

    Elena Briones

  2. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Córdoba, Avenida San Alberto Magno sn, 14004, Cordoba, Spain

    Carmen Tabernero

Authors
  1. Elena Briones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Carmen Tabernero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elena Briones.

Additional information

This paper is not under review by another publisher simultaneously. The research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant PSI2009-07423) in which Carmen Tabernero is the main researcher.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Briones, E., Tabernero, C. Social cognitive and demographic factors related to adolescents’ intrinsic satisfaction with school. Soc Psychol Educ 15, 219–232 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-012-9176-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-012-9176-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation