Active mind, active learning: the role of materialism and psychological well-being for the determination of students' academic performance

The study was conducted to understand the phenomenon through which materialism impacts students' academic performance. Following the ideas provided by Self-Determination Theory (SDT), a structural model was proposed and validated that analysed the mediating role of psychological well-being between both the constructs. The sub-domains of psychological well-being (self-efficacy, emotional intelligence and social intelligence) and academic performance (student's self-efficacy, engagement and social interaction anxiety) were individually examined in the context of the phenomenon to provide a comprehensive understanding. With the help of self-administered surveys, 452 valid responses were gathered from university students (with business majors) through a questionnaire based on adopted scales. The technique of Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilised for conducting the analyses. Results of the analyses revealed the negative influence of materialism on all sub-domains of psychological well-being. Additionally, a significant positive relationship was found between all sub-domains of psychological well-being and academic performance. Furthermore, all sub-domains of psychological well-being (except social intelligence between materialism and students' self-efficacy) mediated the relationship between materialism and all three sub-domains of students' academic performance. Both theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.