Some students many not possess the necessary strategies and skills to meet the demands of academic life and develop negative attitudes, physical and mental exhaustion, and other attitudes that will undermine their personal and academic development. This study analyses the relationship and possible role of goal orientation as a mediator between engagement and academic self-concept. Methods: The study concerned a population of 1756 subjects from 12 secondary schools (ESO). The instruments used included the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-Student (UWES-S), the Perception of Success Questionnaire (POSQ), and the Academic Self-Concept Scale (ASCS). Results: The results revealed significant correlations between academic engagement, task-oriented goal orientation, and academic self-concept. In addition, task orientation was found to play a positive mediating role between academic engagement and academic self-concept, leading to adaptive models in secondary school students. Conclusion: These results highlight the need to promote goal orientation in order to stimulate self-determined behaviours in the school environment and improved levels of academic self-concept, which in turn will facilitate the psychological and personal development of the student and increase the chances of academic success.
Keywords: academic engagement; academic self-concept; adolescents; goal orientation (task); students.