Regulatory and Personality Resources of Psychological Well-being and Academic Achievement of Elementary School Students: Differential Psychological Aspect

Abstract

The article describes an empirical study which had the task to consider the differential aspects of the relationship between conscious self-regulation, psychological well-being, and academic performance of younger students. The study sample consisted of the 4th grade students of Russian secondary schools (N=372). The study implemented three questionnaires to assess the students’ individual characteristics: conscious self-regulation (“Self-Regulation Profile Questionnaire – Junior” (V.I. Morosanova, I.N. Bondarenko), psychological well-being (“Scale of Manifestations of Psychological Well-being of Adolescents” Russian adaptation Morosanova et al.), personality features ("Big Five – the Children's Version", Russian adaptation by S.B. Malykh et al.). The average annual score in the main academic subjects was taken as a criterion for academic performance. Cluster analysis revealed three groups of students characterized by significantly different levels of the studied parameters. Students with the lowest achievement and well-being scores have higher neuroticism scores, and lower scores on the openness to experience, conscientiousness, friendliness and extraversion, and conscious self-regulation. The study results allowed to identify specific regulatory and personality resources of psychological well-being and academic performance of students in the selected groups. The analysis made it possible to substantiate recommendations and specific practical ways of developing conscious self-regulation as a resource for maintaining psychological well-being and improving academic performance of younger students.