Affiliation:
1. Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education Hong Kong Hong Kong
2. Human Communication, Learning, and Development Academic Unit Faculty of Education Hong Kong Hong Kong
3. The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong Hong Kong
4. Department of Educational Psychology Miami University Oxford Ohio USA
Abstract
AbstractPast studies indicate that feeling related to specific social agents such as parents, teachers, and peers can facilitate domain‐general academic engagement. However, there is scarce research on how relatedness may be associated with engagement in specific academic subjects. This cross‐sectional study explores the associations of sense of relatedness to mother, father, science teachers, friends, classmates, and neighbors with behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in science. Four hundred and thirty‐eight high school students completed an online survey that included scales to assess demographic information, relatedness, and science engagement. Only relatedness to science teacher positively predicted behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement in science when controlling for other relatedness dimensions, age, gender, year in school, parental educational attainment, and daily allowance. Although further research that can uncover causal conclusions is needed, these findings suggest the importance of science teacher relatedness for students' science engagement.