Abstract:

One of the most important challenges of Educational Psychology is further defining the predictors of a good academic achievement in that it prevents dropout rates and predicts better socio-economic and employment success. Some of these predictor variables are burnout, which has been extensively investigated in recent years, and academic psychological inflexibility (API), that has been seldom explored. API refers to the inability to stay in contact with negatively-appraised private experiences related to the academic life (thoughts and feelings that arise with boredom, lack of self-efficacy, low tolerance to frustration, failure expectancies and the like) while the person pursues their academic goal. The main aim of the present study was to explore the contribution of API to the well-known relation between burnout and poor academic performance. A total of 172 Psychology students from a university in Spain filled out measures of burnout (Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey, MBI-SS), and API (Work-related Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, WAAQ); we also collected their grade-point average (GPA). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that inefficacy (from the MBI-SS) was the best predictor of worse academic achievement, and API added predictive capacity to the model. These results inform of the benefits of considering the role exerted by API in the relation between feeling burned-out at college and engaging more or less efectively with studies so as to ensure the desired academic success. Further research considering larger samples and longitudinal analyses will elucidate the added value of incorporating psychological flexibility training to educational programs with prevention and treatment purposes.

Keywords:

Academic achievement, burnout, engagement, emotion regulation, psychological inflexibility, college students, coaching.