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Autonomy and hope: relationships and difference between left-behind and non-left-behind secondary vocational students

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Abstract

The present study integrated teacher and student autonomy and investigated the relationship between teacher autonomy support, the satisfaction of autonomy needs, academic self-efficacy, and hope in secondary vocational students, using the self-determination theory and self-efficacy theory. Specifically, the study aimed to explore how satisfaction with autonomy needs and academic self-efficacy mediate this relationship. Furthermore, the study developed a mediation mechanism model among these variables, comparing left-behind and non-left-behind secondary vocational students. A total of 683 (left-behind: 244; non-left-behind: 439) secondary vocational students completed psychological scales related to the short-form Learning Climate Questionnaire (LCQ), Satisfaction of Autonomy Need Scale, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ), and Hope Scale. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships among teacher autonomy support, the satisfaction of autonomy needs, academic self-efficacy, and hope. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis further showed that teacher autonomy support indirectly affected hope through the sequential mediation of satisfaction of autonomy needs and academic self-efficacy. Using the model, we found that the influence of satisfaction of autonomy needs on the hope of non-left-behind students was significantly higher compared to the left-behind secondary vocational students. In contrast, the influence of academic self-efficacy on the hope of being left behind was significantly higher than that for non-left-behind secondary vocational students. These results suggest that teacher autonomy support, the satisfaction of autonomy needs, and academic self-efficacy are important factors that improve the hope of secondary vocational students. Furthermore, these effects vary between left-behind and non-left-behind secondary vocational students.

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Funding

This research was supported by Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project of Anhui Province(AHSKQ2019D036).

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  1. Department of Education, Huaibei Normal University, No.100, Dongshan Road, 235000, Huaibei, Anhui, China

    Qian Liu, Zhenxing Li & **gting Zhu

  2. Anhui Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Computing and Application on Cognitive Behavior, Huaibei, China

    Zhenxing Li

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Correspondence to Zhenxing Li.

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Liu, Q., Li, Z. & Zhu, J. Autonomy and hope: relationships and difference between left-behind and non-left-behind secondary vocational students. Curr Psychol 43, 4599–4610 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04685-z

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