ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Mindfulness
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1541128
The Role of Motivation in the Association of Dispositional Mindfulness on Self-Learning and Academic Achievement
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China
- 2Thamar University, Dhamar, Dhamar, Yemen
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Introduction. Prior research has explored relationships among dispositional mindfulness, motivation, and academic performance, the mechanisms linking these variables remain unclear. This study aims to examine whether dispositional mindfulness predicts self-learning and academic achievement in Yemeni college students, and the potential mediating roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in these associations. Method. Two hundred and eighty-three Yemeni college students (170 males; 18–26 yrs) completed the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Personal Learning Scale (PLS), Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation Scale, and semester GPAs were obtained from college records.Results. Dispositional mindfulness correlated moderately with self-learning (r = .49, p < .001) and GPA (r = .43, p < .001). Intrinsic motivation was associated with dispositional mindfulness (r = .41), self-learning (r = .42) and GPA (r = .50), all p < .001. PROCESS mediation (Model 4, 5,000 bootstraps) indicated that intrinsic motivation partially mediated the effect of dispositional mindfulness on self-learning (indirect β = .07, SE = .02, 95 % CI [.03, .10]) and GPA (indirect β = .06, SE = .02, 95 % CI [.02, .09]), accounting for ≈ 28 % and 35 % of the total effects, respectively. Extrinsic motivation showed small zero-order correlations but did not mediate either outcome.Conclusion. Higher dispositional mindfulness predicts stronger intrinsic motivation, which in turn fosters sustained self-learning and higher academic achievement; purely extrinsic motives appear insufficient for long-term gains.
Keywords: Dispositional mindfulness, Academic Achievement, GPA, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, Self-learning, academic performance
Received: 26 Feb 2025; Accepted: 20 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Aldbyani, Alhadoor and Chuanxia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dr Aamer Aldbyani, Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China
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