The Complex Interplay of Attributional Style, Self-Regulation, and Resilience in Relation to Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

The present study examines the role of socio-emotional variables such as attributional styles related to success or failure in school, self-regulatory strategies or control studies, and resilience of secondary school students (N = 1498) in their mathematics performance. Using a quantitative approach and Structural Equation Model (SEM), the role of the internal attribution style is highlighted as a relevant variable and its mediating role to connect students’ cognitive skills such as study control, or those more linked to the emotional level as resilience to the variability of students’ mathematics performance. The results did not show gender as a moderating variable. At the end, the findings and their possible consequence are discussed in the field of education, especially considering that these variables can be subject to the intervention of teachers or educational agents. The interventions by teachers can allow students from high social vulnerability contexts to access quality education despite the structural elements of the high social stratification of the Chilean system.