Contributions of Positive Psychology in Self-Regulated Learning: A Study With Brazilian Undergraduate Students

Vanessa Kaiser; Caroline Tozzi Reppold; Claudio Simon Hutz; Leandro S Almeida

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02980

Contributions of Positive Psychology in Self-Regulated Learning: A Study With Brazilian Undergraduate Students

Front Psychol. 2020 Jan 28:10:2980. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02980. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Vanessa Kaiser¹, Caroline Tozzi Reppold¹, Claudio Simon Hutz², Leandro S Almeida³

Affiliations

¹ Psychological Assessment Research Laboratory, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
² Department of Psychology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
³ Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.

Abstract

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is an important factor for academic success. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between constructs typical of positive psychology (PP; self-esteem, self-efficacy, affects, life satisfaction, optimism, and hope) and SRL while indicating the explained variance of these constructs in an SRL model. The study comprised 1,046 undergraduate students from 63 public higher education institutions from all demographic regions of Brazil. Significant correlations (p < 0.01) were found between SRL and all PP variables. Moderate correlations were found with self-efficacy and positive affects. The linear regression analysis indicated that one model explains 41.9% of the variance in SRL. The data are discussed based on the potential of PP and SRL interventions to improve academic performance and student adaptation to higher education environments.

Keywords: academic adaptation; positive affects; positive psychology; self-efficacy; self-regulated learning.