Prediction of resilience in school students through the promotion of responsibility: a study through the Self-Determination Theory

Abstract

Resilience is a construct that refers to the ability to overcome adversity. It is a fundamental aspect for the present and future development of any person. Following the Theory of Self-determination, there exist certain antecedents which may improve the more self-determined motivation insofar as it is mediated by an improvement of what is known as Basic Psychological Needs. In the school setting, responsibility is a variable that greatly worries teachers and has been widely studied; nevertheless, very few studies have done so as a predictor of positive or negative consequences for students. Therefore, following the Theory of Self-determination, this work seeks to evaluate the predictive capacity that responsibility has on resilience. To this end, 701 Secondary Education students participated in a study which used four questionnaires as an instrument to measure Responsibility, the Basic Psychological Needs of Autonomy, Competence and Relationship, Self-determined Motivation and Resilience. The results were analysed with the SSPS 22.0 and AMOS 24.0 programs, carrying out a measurement model and a predictive model, with Responsibility as an antecedent, Resilience as a final consequence. Responsibility was a predictor of satisfaction of the three Basic Psychological Needs, which predicted Self-Determined Motivation and this, in turn, predicted students’ Resilience. The study concludes that an increase in Responsibility in classes can improve Resilience thanks to the Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs and, with it, the ability to persist in the face of adversity.