The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students

Previous literature has proven the positive relationship of academic emotions, academic engagement and academic achievement. However, less is known about the impact of what students do in response to this emotions - that is, their psychological flexibility- on academic engagement and achievement. Th...

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Main Authors: Ginesa López-Crespo, Goshgar Mursalzade, Noelia Sánchez-Pérez, Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571717/full
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author Ginesa López-Crespo
Goshgar Mursalzade
Noelia Sánchez-Pérez
Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas
author_facet Ginesa López-Crespo
Goshgar Mursalzade
Noelia Sánchez-Pérez
Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas
author_sort Ginesa López-Crespo
collection DOAJ
description Previous literature has proven the positive relationship of academic emotions, academic engagement and academic achievement. However, less is known about the impact of what students do in response to this emotions - that is, their psychological flexibility- on academic engagement and achievement. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between academic emotions, engagement and achievement in a sample of university students. With this purpose, 261 psychology students, aged 18 to 26, participated in a cross-sectional survey study. The results of the study revealed a significant mediator role of psychological flexibility between the academic emotions of enjoyment and study academic achievement. Specifically, enjoyment was related to academic achievement both directly and indirectly through psychological flexibility. In contrast, study boredom did not have a direct relationship with academic achievement, but an indirect relationship mediated both by psychological flexibility and by the influence of psychological flexibility on engagement. These findings highlight the importance of psychological flexibility in the academic environment, showing its potential to help students to improve their academic performance regardless of the valence of the emotion experienced during their studies.
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publishDate 2025-07-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
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series Frontiers in Psychology
spelling doaj-art-b9b0620f627c471b8210bdfd6a4efb082025-08-20T03:28:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-07-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.15717171571717The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university studentsGinesa López-CrespoGoshgar MursalzadeNoelia Sánchez-PérezSonsoles Valdivia-SalasPrevious literature has proven the positive relationship of academic emotions, academic engagement and academic achievement. However, less is known about the impact of what students do in response to this emotions - that is, their psychological flexibility- on academic engagement and achievement. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in the relationship between academic emotions, engagement and achievement in a sample of university students. With this purpose, 261 psychology students, aged 18 to 26, participated in a cross-sectional survey study. The results of the study revealed a significant mediator role of psychological flexibility between the academic emotions of enjoyment and study academic achievement. Specifically, enjoyment was related to academic achievement both directly and indirectly through psychological flexibility. In contrast, study boredom did not have a direct relationship with academic achievement, but an indirect relationship mediated both by psychological flexibility and by the influence of psychological flexibility on engagement. These findings highlight the importance of psychological flexibility in the academic environment, showing its potential to help students to improve their academic performance regardless of the valence of the emotion experienced during their studies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571717/fullpsychological flexibilityacademic engagementacademic emotionsacademic achievementmediation analysis
spellingShingle Ginesa López-Crespo
Goshgar Mursalzade
Noelia Sánchez-Pérez
Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas
The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
Frontiers in Psychology
psychological flexibility
academic engagement
academic emotions
academic achievement
mediation analysis
title The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
title_full The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
title_fullStr The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
title_full_unstemmed The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
title_short The mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions, academic engagement, and academic achievement among university students
title_sort mediating role of psychological flexibility on the relationship between academic emotions academic engagement and academic achievement among university students
topic psychological flexibility
academic engagement
academic emotions
academic achievement
mediation analysis
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1571717/full
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