A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement

Promoting student engagement has always been a challenging endeavor, and the global pandemic has added to the complexity by disrupting traditional classroom settings. Consequently, it has become vital to investigate and address the challenges that students face in environments with academic disrupti...

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Main Authors: Wei Mun Chin, Nor Aniza Ahmad, Ismi Arif Ismail, Siti Noormi Alias, Alia Sarah Asri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-08-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251352752
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author Wei Mun Chin
Nor Aniza Ahmad
Ismi Arif Ismail
Siti Noormi Alias
Alia Sarah Asri
author_facet Wei Mun Chin
Nor Aniza Ahmad
Ismi Arif Ismail
Siti Noormi Alias
Alia Sarah Asri
author_sort Wei Mun Chin
collection DOAJ
description Promoting student engagement has always been a challenging endeavor, and the global pandemic has added to the complexity by disrupting traditional classroom settings. Consequently, it has become vital to investigate and address the challenges that students face in environments with academic disruption. In this study, Structural Equation Modeling was applied to analyze the collected data from a cross-sectional sample of 461 participants through the proportionate stratified random sampling method during the global pandemic at a selected Malaysian public research university. The researchers investigated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, academic motivation, and student engagement, including the potential serial mediation of basic psychological needs and academic motivation in this relationship. The results indicated that trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, and academic motivation were significant positive predictors of student engagement. Trait emotional intelligence was also a positive and significant predictor of basic psychological needs but was insignificant regarding academic motivation. On the other hand, basic psychological needs was a significant positive predictor of academic motivation. Basic psychological needs and academic motivation partially mediated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and student engagement. The findings suggest that undergraduate students with higher levels of trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, and academic motivation would have better student engagement, suggesting the need for further research related to the supportive environment for students in modern classroom settings.
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spelling doaj-art-10e158eee39349d19ccdfc51911b40cb2025-08-20T12:03:57ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402025-08-011510.1177/21582440251352752A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student EngagementWei Mun Chin0Nor Aniza Ahmad1Ismi Arif Ismail2Siti Noormi Alias3Alia Sarah Asri4Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaUniversiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaUniversiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaUniversiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaUniversiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, MalaysiaPromoting student engagement has always been a challenging endeavor, and the global pandemic has added to the complexity by disrupting traditional classroom settings. Consequently, it has become vital to investigate and address the challenges that students face in environments with academic disruption. In this study, Structural Equation Modeling was applied to analyze the collected data from a cross-sectional sample of 461 participants through the proportionate stratified random sampling method during the global pandemic at a selected Malaysian public research university. The researchers investigated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, academic motivation, and student engagement, including the potential serial mediation of basic psychological needs and academic motivation in this relationship. The results indicated that trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, and academic motivation were significant positive predictors of student engagement. Trait emotional intelligence was also a positive and significant predictor of basic psychological needs but was insignificant regarding academic motivation. On the other hand, basic psychological needs was a significant positive predictor of academic motivation. Basic psychological needs and academic motivation partially mediated the relationship between trait emotional intelligence and student engagement. The findings suggest that undergraduate students with higher levels of trait emotional intelligence, basic psychological needs, and academic motivation would have better student engagement, suggesting the need for further research related to the supportive environment for students in modern classroom settings.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251352752
spellingShingle Wei Mun Chin
Nor Aniza Ahmad
Ismi Arif Ismail
Siti Noormi Alias
Alia Sarah Asri
A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
SAGE Open
title A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
title_full A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
title_fullStr A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
title_full_unstemmed A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
title_short A Serial Mediation Model on Trait Emotional Intelligence, Basic Psychological Needs, and Academic Motivation as Antecedents of Student Engagement
title_sort serial mediation model on trait emotional intelligence basic psychological needs and academic motivation as antecedents of student engagement
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251352752
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