Abstract:
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This research was a correlational-comparative study. Its objectives were 1) to identify important predictors and predictive percentage of psychological characteristics and situations related to academic identity and 2) to study direct and indirect influences of situations and psychological traits on academic identity using Interactionism Model as the research framework.
This research used multi-stage sampling method. The samples were 451 second-year master students, 193 of whom were male (42.80%) and 258 of whom were female (57.20%). The average age was 32.75 years and 182 students were from Humanities and Social Sciences field (40.40%), 106 students were from Science field (23.50%) and 163 students were from Business Administration field (36.10%). As for career, 214 students were working in the government or state enterprises (47.50%) and 237 were working in other sectors (52.50%). As for enrollment, 152 students were enrolled in regular classes (33.70%) and 299 students were enrolled in extension classes (66.30%).
There were 13 measures and one biosocial background questionnaire. Most of the measures were in the form of summated rating scales. Item discrimination, Item-Total Correlation and confirmatory factor analysis were performed for measurement quality. The reliability score of each measure ranged between 0.610 and 0.858. There were 3 hypotheses which were analyzed by 1) Multiple Regression Analysis) and 2) Path Analysis.
The important results are as follows. First, the data analysis on attitude towards academic identity did not support the hypothesis 1, both in total group and in subgroups. In the total group, psychological traits and situations could predict attitude towards academic identity for 53.8%. The important predictors were academic social norm, university academic atmosphere and (low) moral disengagement.
Second, the data analysis on academic self-regulation supported the hypothesis 1 both in total group and in 12 subgroups. In the total group, psychological traits and situations could predict academic self-regulation for 44.1%. The important predictors were role model from peer, academic social norm, future orientation and self-control, academic habit, university academic atmosphere and core self-evaluation.
Third, the data analysis on critical thinking supported the hypothesis 2 both in total group and in 13 subgroups. In the total group, psychological traits, situations, and psychological states could predict critical thinking for 42.8%. The important predictors were attitude towards academic identity, future orientation and self-control, core self-evaluation, academic habit and academic self-regulation.
Fourth, the data analysis on exploration and exploitation of knowledge behavior supported the hypothesis 2 both in total group and in 14 subgroups. In the total group, psychological traits, situations and psychological states could predict exploration and exploitation of knowledge behavior for 46.9%. The important predictors were academic self-regulation, future orientation and self-control, attitude towards academic identity and university academic habit.
Fifth, the data analysis on academic moral identity supported the hypothesis 2 both in total group and in 11 subgroups. In the total group, psychological traits, situations and psychological states could predict academic moral identity for 32.0%. The important predictors were academic self-regulation, future orientation and self-control, attitude towards academic identity and collectivism.
Sixth, path analysis required a modification of the model by eliminating the direct influence of psychological trait latent variable towards academic identity latent variable, and adding a path from psychological trait latent variable towards situational latent variable, which made the model consistent with the empirical data (c2 = 23.125, df = 14, p-value = 0.0583, RMSEA = 0.038, CFI = 0.997, TLI = 0.983, SRMR = 0.048). The results supported interactionism model with psychological trait latent variable and situational latent variable having direct and indirect influences on psychological state latent variable (R2 =78.7%) and academic identity latent variable (R2 =95.6%).
The research findings suggested the means to improve academic identity in master students as follows: 1) for all students, the aspects to be heightened were academic self-regulation, future orientation and self-control and attitude towards academic identity and 2) for at-risk groups, which were extension students and students who were not currently doing research, the aspects to be enhanced were future orientation and self-control, academic self-regulation and university academic atmosphere.
In the future, a training package should be developed based on causal factors found in this research. An experiment should be done to evaluate the training package in order to improve academic identity in Master’s degree students.
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