نویسندگان:
شهروز نعمتی1 ، رحیم بدری گرگری2 ، سمیه حسن زاده3 .1استاد روان شناسی و آموزش کودکان استثنایی، گروه علوم تربیتی، دانشکدۀ علوم تربیتی و روان شناسی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران.
2استاد روان شناسی تربیتی، گروه علوم تربیتی، دانشکده علوم تربیتی و روان شناسی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران.
3کارشناس ارشد روانشناسی تربیتی، گروه علوم تربیتی، دانشکدۀ علوم تربیتی و روانشناسی، دانشگاه تبریز، تبریز، ایران.
چکیده فارسی: هدف این مطالعه بررسی نقش واسطهای خودتنظیمی هیجانی در ارتباط بین سختکوشی روانشناختی، تابآوری و خودناتوانسازی تحصیلی در دانشجویان دانشگاه تبریز بود. پژوهش با روش توصیفی_همبستگی و مدلسازی معادلات ساختاری انجام شد. نمونهای شامل ۳۷۸ نفر به روش تصادفی انتخاب شد و دادهها با استفاده از پرسشنامههای استاندارد جمعآوری گردید. نتایج نشان داد که خودتنظیمی هیجانی در رابطۀ بین تابآوری و خودناتوانسازی تحصیلی نقش میانجی دارد، اما این نقش در ارتباط سختکوشی با خودناتوانسازی تأیید نشد. همچنین، همبستگی منفی معناداری بین تابآوری و خودناتوانسازی مشاهده شد. یافتهها حاکی از آن است که تقویت سختکوشی روانشناختی و تابآوری میتواند به کاهش رفتارهای خودناتوانساز منجر شود. برنامههای آموزشی و مشاورهای باید بر بهبود این مهارتها تمرکز کنند تا عملکرد تحصیلی دانشجویان ارتقا یابد. با این حال، محدودیتهایی مانند عدم تعمیمپذیری نتایج به دیگر گروهها و احتمال سوگیری در خودگزارشدهی وجود دارد. این پژوهش بر اهمیت توسعه مداخلات آموزشی برای تقویت خودتنظیمی هیجانی و سختکوشی تأکید میکند تا از رفتارهای خودناتوانساز پیشگیری شود.
The Mediating Role of Emotional Self-Regulation in the Relationship of Psychological Hardiness and Grit with Academic Self-Handicapping
English Abstract: The present study investigated the mediating role of emotional self-regulation in the relationship of psychological hardiness and grit, with self-handicapping in academic settings. Utilizing a descriptive and correlational research design, the study involved 378 randomly selected students from Tabriz University during the 2023-2024 academic year. Data were collected using established questionnaires for emotional self-regulation, grit, psychological hardiness, and self-handicapping. Analysis was conducted with multivariate regression and structural equation modeling using AMOS and LISREL software. Results indicated that emotional self-regulation mediates the relationship between grit and self-handicapping but not between psychological hardiness and self-handicapping. A significant negative correlation was found between grit and self-handicapping. Although emotional self-regulation positively mediated the relationship involving grit, it did not do so for psychological hardiness. This highlights the importance of fostering grit and psychological hardiness to mitigate self-handicapping behaviors. The findings suggest that educational and counseling programs should enhance psychological hardiness and emotional self-regulation skills to reduce self-handicapping tendencies and improve academic performance. However, the study's limitations include the non-generalizability of the results to other populations and potential biases in self-reporting. The research underscores the significance of developing these psychological skills to support students effectively. Introduction Transitioning to university life poses significant challenges for students aged 18-24 (O'Shea et al., 2024), particularly in balancing academic performance with complex social and emotional demands. Among these challenges, academic self-handicapping has emerged as a particularly detrimental coping strategy, in which students deliberately create obstacles to justify potential failures (Schwinger et al., 2022). This phenomenon, manifested through behaviors like procrastination, deliberate reduction of effort, or substance abuse, serves as a protective mechanism for self-esteem by externalizing attributions of failure (Ghaffarzadeh et al., 2022). While providing temporary psychological relief, they ultimately undermine academic performance and contribute to long-term negative outcomes (Kanten & Kanten, 2016). Recent research has highlighted the potential protective roles of psychological hardiness (Kobasa, 1979) and grit (Duckworth, 2017), with growing interest in how emotional self-regulation may mediate their effects on self-handicapping behaviors (El-Sayed & Hassan, 2010; Georgoulas-Sherry & Kelly, 2019). Understanding these relationships could guide the development of more effective interventions to enhance student success and well-being Methodology This quantitative study employed a correlational research design with structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationships of psychological hardiness, grit, and emotional self-regulation with academic self-handicapping. The participant pool consisted of 378 students from Tabriz University during the 2022-2023 academic year, with 11 multivariate outliers removed, resulting in a final sample of 367 participants. Sampling was conducted randomly based on Krejcie and Morgan's table, using a 5% margin of error. Participants completed four validated psychological measures: The Emotional Self-Regulation Scale (Hoffman & Kashdan, 2010) is a 20-item instrument assessing concealment, adjustment, and tolerance components (α=0.81). The 12-item Grit Scale (Duckworth, 2007) measures consistency of interest and perseverance of effort (α=0.87). The Psychological Hardiness Scale (Kobasa et al., 1982) is a 20-item measure of commitment, control, and challenge (validated in Persian by Zare & Aminpour, 2011). The Academic Self-Handicapping Scale (Midgley et al., 1996) is a six-item measure of self-defeating academic behaviors (α=0.77). Data analysis proceeded in several stages. First, preliminary analyses examined data distributions and tested statistical assumptions. Normality was confirmed through skewness and kurtosis values (all between -1 and +1). Multicollinearity diagnostics showed acceptable levels (VIFs < 2; Tolerance > 0.80), and the Durbin-Watson statistic (1.78) indicated independence of residuals. Primary analyses included Pearson’s correlations to examine bivariate relationships and structural equation modeling (using AMOS and LISREL) to test mediation hypotheses, with bootstrapping procedures (5000 samples) to assess indirect effects. Results The correlation analysis revealed significant relationships among study variables. Academic self-handicapping showed negative correlations with emotional regulation (r = -.24, p < .01), psychological hardiness (r = -.12, p < .05), and grit (r = -.36, p < .01). Positive correlations emerged between grit and emotional regulation (r = .20, p < .01), as well as between grit and hardiness (r = .34, p < .01). Path analysis demonstrated grit's direct negative effect on self-handicapping (β = -.31, p < .001), with emotional regulation partially mediating this relationship (indirect effect β = -.03, 95% CI [-.06, -.01]). Psychological hardiness showed no significant effects. The final sample of 367 students (after removing 11 outliers) comprised balanced gender distribution (49.5% male) with a majority undergraduates (70.8%) aged 20-25 (57.5%). Discussion and conclusion This study highlights key psychological factors affecting academic self-handicapping in university students. A strong negative relationship was found between grit and self-handicapping (β = -0.31), supporting Duckworth’s (2016) theory that perseverance protects against self-defeating behaviors. This aligns with Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy theory, suggesting that students with higher levels of grit tend to have greater confidence in their abilities, thereby reducing their reliance on self-handicapping behaviors. Emotional regulation partially mediated grit’s effect, explaining 10% of its impact, consistent with Thompson’s (1994) and Gross’s (2015) models. However, the modest mediation suggests grit operates through additional pathways. Surprisingly, psychological hardiness did not significantly predict self-handicapping, in contrast to prior research (El-Sayed & Hassan, 2010), possibly indicating domain-specific resilience (e.g., grit) is more relevant in academic contexts (Matthews et al., 2019). Universities should implement interventions that combine grit-development and emotional regulation training, such as mindfulness and cognitive-behavioral techniques. Academic advisors can help students reframe challenges as growth opportunities, while scaffolded learning can foster perseverance. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and single-institution sample, restricting causal inferences and generalizability. Future research should use longitudinal designs across diverse institutions, examining additional factors like social support and instructional quality. Grit and emotional regulation serve as buffers against self-handicapping, whereas hardiness appears to have a less significant impact. These insights can help develop strategies to enhance academic resilience and success, though further research is needed to explore the underlying mechanisms.