The Pathway to Academic Performance: The Role of Motivation, Competence and Socio-familial Risk Factors in Lebanese Medical Students

Abstract

Abstract While cognitive abilities are known to have a certain degree of predictive value for academic performance, it is now well-established that motivation and emotion-related variables, along with environmental variables such as socio-economic status and family support, also significantly contribute to the academic success of university students. However, the specific mechanisms through which the environment influences these non-cognitive variables in predicting academic performance, particularly within the context of non-individualistic cultures, remain underexplored. In this study we examined the influence of family support, trait Emotional Intelligence (trait EI), and academic self-efficacy (ASE) on Academic Performance (AP). Additionally, we studied competence and motivation as potential mediators in the relationship between trait EI and academic self-efficacy (ASE). The study utilized structural equation models applied to two sub-samples drawn from a group of medical students. The first sub-sample, labeled the “low risk” group, consisted of students who reported minimal difficulty in paying bills and had highly educated parents. The second sub-sample, labeled the “high risk” group, included students who reported difficulty in paying bills and had less educated parents. The findings revealed that intrinsic motivation plays a more prominent role than extrinsic motivation as a mediator between trait EI, predicted by family support, and ASE, which in turn predicted AP. Among the low-risk students, both competence and intrinsic motivation fully mediated this relationship, whereas among the high-risk students, only competence acted as a mediator. These findings have significant implications for medical educational settings and are thoroughly discussed in this study.