How psychological capital is related to academic performance, burnout, and boredom? The mediating role of study engagement

Abstract

Researchers are increasingly interested in how personal characteristics are related to academic performance and whether study engagement has an impact on different experiences in student life. Drawing on Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examines the relationship between psychological capital (PsyCap) and engagement, and, further, the relationship between engagement and performance, boredom, and burnout among university students. Using data gathered from 420 university students (242 responses from India and 178 from Romania), partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) methods showed that study engagement partially mediates the relation between PsyCap and academic performance, and also between PsyCap and burnout or boredom. The present study advances our knowledge about PsyCap and engagement as possible antecedents of university students’ performance, burnout, and boredom, across both samples. Results suggest that developing interventions that strengthen students’ resources by increasing their hope, resilience, self-efficacy, and optimism could foster their study engagement and academic performance and protect them from burnout and boredom.