Self-efficacy, goal orientation and academic performance. A multi-country study

Purpose: It is well established the importance of self-efficacy in predicting academic performance. Another possible antecedent of academic performance is goal orientation representing the students’ reasons for engaging in academic behavior. The aim of the study is to investigate the joined contribution of study self-efficacy and three (namely learning, proving and avoiding) goal orientations to explain academic performance among Italian and Spanish University students. Design/Methodology: Two samples, respectively of 409 Italian students (76% females) and 389 Spanish students (79% females), completed a questionnaire measuring self-efficacy and goal orientations. Subsequently grade point average was collected as objective indicator of performance. Multigroup structural equation approach was used to test our hypotheses. Results: Preliminary analysis attested configural and metric invariance across the two samples. Results revealed that study self-efficacy was positively associated with learning and proving goal orientations and negatively with avoiding goal orientation. As hypothesized, learning goal orientation predicted grade point average across both samples. However, some differences between the two countries also emerged: in particular, in the Italian sample also avoiding goal orientation predicted academic performance. Limitations: Self-reported measures were collected only at one point in time Research/Practical Implications: Tutoring programs may be useful to increase students self-efficacy beliefs and promote learning goal orientation in order to facilitate more adaptive patterns of academic learning. Originality/Value: The added value of this study is the possibility to explore the role of different types of goal orientation in facilitating academic performance and the similarity and differences between Italian and Spanish students.