The Mediating Role of Academic Motivation in the Relationship between Flow, Cognitive Performance, and Spiritual Health with Academic Enthusiasm
Subject Areas : Educational ScienceFarahnaz Ataeian 1 , Shahnaz Khaleghipour 2
1 - Department of Positive Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Isfahan University of Quranic Studies
2 - Department of psychology, Naein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Naein, Iran
Keywords: academic motivation, flow, cognitive performance, spiritual health, passion for education ,
Abstract :
Understanding the factors that influence academic interest is considered a fundamental goal. This [u1] research was conducted to examine the mediating role of academic motivation in relation to flow, cognitive performance, and spiritual health in the context of academic enthusiasm. The research method employed was descriptive correlation. The statistical population consisted of students from Isfahan University in 2022, with a sample size of 200 participants responding to the questionnaires. The research tools included Vallerand et al.'s academic motivation, Wang et al.'s academic enthusiasm, Jackson and Martin's flow, Nejat's cognitive functions, and Paloutzian and Wallison's spiritual health questionnaires. The findings indicated that the overall fit of the model was confirmed by the goodness of fit index of the root mean square residual. The variables of cognitive performance, flow, and spiritual health explained 40.8% of the variance in academic enthusiasm. According to the standardized coefficients, it can be concluded that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation have a greater impact on academic enthusiasm than cognitive performance and spiritual health. Specifically, cognitive performance, flow, and spiritual health account for only 26.3% of the variance in intrinsic motivation and 15.4% in extrinsic motivation. At the 95% confidence level, the paths from cognitive performance, flow, and spiritual health to academic enthusiasm were found to be significant. Additionally, the path of spiritual health and cognitive performance (mental flexibility) influences motivation, while the path of cognitive performance (planning and problem-solving) affects academic enthusiasm. Therefore, academic motivation serves as a mediating variable that influences the relationships between cognitive functions, flow, and spiritual health with academic enthusiasm.
