investigation of the mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship of social adjustment with academic engagement and achievement goals among high school students

Background and objectives: one of the important goals of the educational system is to facilitate growth in all aspects and train healthy and efficient people. in this regard, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship of social adjustment with academic engagement and achievement goals among high school students. materials and methods: this descriptive correlational research was performed based on a path analysis-based design. the statistical population included all male high school students in tehran during 2017-18, from whom 546 students were randomly selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. the required data were collected using morgan-jinks student efficacy scale, zarang educational conflict questionnaire, sinha and singh’s adjustment inventory, and elliott and church’s achievement goal questionnaire. results: based on the results, the coefficients of academic engagement (0.50) and achievement goals (0.30) were significant in predicting self-efficacy. in addition, the self-efficacy coefficient is significant in adjustment prediction (0.82). the direct effects of academic engagement (0.06) and achievement goals (-0.29) on predicting adjustment were insignificant and significant, respectively. based on this data, academic self-efficacy mediates the relationship between academic engagement and adjustment. moreover, it was found that academic self-efficacy had a mediating role in the relationship between achievement goals and adjustment. conclusion: the findings imply that educational approaches, while emphasizing the mastery of the students over prerequisites and successful experiences, should also consider academic self-efficacy as a fundamental principle and rely on persuasion and explanation in interactions.