ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
Parental Educational Expectations and Academic Achievement Among Tibetans in China: A Chain Mediation Model
Licheng SHI 1,1
Yi He 2
Yongjiang Shen 1
1. Nantong University, Nantong, China
2. liangping middle school, chongqing, china, chongqing, China
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Abstract
Background: Educational expectation is a key determinant of adolescents' academic achievement, influencing their sustained engagement in school activities. However, existing research has been controversial regarding the relationship between parents' educational expectations and academic performance across diverse racial and ethnic groups. Methods: Based on a survey of 521 Tibetan adolescents in western China, this study examined the direct and indirect effects of perceived parental educational expectations on academic achievement. Particular attention was paid to the mediating roles of adolescents' own educational expectations and their learning engagement. Multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test these relationships. Results: Perceptions of parental educational expectations significantly predicted their academic achievement among Tibetan adolescents. Moreover, adolescents' educational expectations mediated the relationship between perceived parental expectations and academic achievement. Learning engagement alone did not mediate this direct relationship, but both variables exerted a chain mediation effect. Perceived parental educational expectations influenced academic achievement sequentially through Tibetan adolescents' own educational expectations and learning engagement. Conclusion: This study confirms the Chain Mediation Model and highlights the critical roles of both parental influence and individual psychological factors in shaping academic achievement. They have significant implications for improving the academic success of minority students such as Tibetan adolescents.
Summary
Keywords
Academic Achievement, adolescents, Chain mediation model, Educational expectation, Learning engagement
Received
25 July 2025
Accepted
30 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 SHI, He and Shen. 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: Yongjiang Shen
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