Structural Relations of Academic Identities with Academic Competence: The Mediating Role of Mindfulness

Authors
Seyed Mosa Tabatabaee 1
Abdollah Bahrami 2
Zahra Kaskani 3
1 Assistant Professor, Department of cognitive sciences, faculty of psychology and educational sciences, Semnan university, Semnan, Iran.
2 Master of Educational Psychology, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.
3 Master of Educational Psychology, Payam Noor University, Semnan, Iran
Abstract
The present study aimed to examine the role of academic identity in predicting academic competence among female high school students in Sabzevar, with the mediating role of mindfulness. The research employed a descriptive–correlational design based on structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of all female students in the second cycle of high school in Sabzevar, from which 362 participants were selected through convenience sampling. The research instruments included the Academic Identity Questionnaire by Was and Isaacson (2008), the Academic Competence Evaluation Scale by DiPerna and Elliott (1999), and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire by Baer et al. (2006). The findings indicated that, in terms of direct effects, the achieved academic identity style had a significant positive relationship with academic competence, whereas the diffused style showed a significant negative relationship. The moratorium style did not have a significant direct effect, while the foreclosed style demonstrated a weak but significant positive effect. Regarding indirect effects, the achieved style positively predicted academic competence through increased mindfulness, whereas the moratorium and diffused styles negatively predicted academic competence through reduced mindfulness. The indirect effect of the foreclosed style via mindfulness was not significant. Overall, the results highlighted that academic identity—particularly the achieved style—plays a decisive role in predicting academic competence, with mindfulness serving as a partial mediator in this relationship.
Keywords
Academic identity
academic competence
Mindfulness
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