Engagement, Flow, Self-efficacy and Eustress of University Students: A cross-national comparison between the Philippines and Argentina

MESURADO, B.; RICHAUD, M. C.; NIÑO, N.J.

The journal of psychology:Interdisciplinary and Applied

Taylor & Francis

Año: 2018

0022 3980

This study examined how self-efficacy, eustress, and flow interact with academicengagement. First, it aimed to test a theoretical model that proposes that self-efficacyand eustress promote both flow and engagement and that, in turn, the state of flow promotesacademic engagement in undergraduate student. We hypothesized that the theoretical modelwould be invariant for two countries: the Philippines and Argentina. Secondly, this researchaimed to compare the levels of self-efficacy, eustress, study-flow and academic engagementexperiences in students from both countries. One hundred seventy-six Filipinos and 171Argentinean students participated in the study by completing inventories using the UtrechtStudent Engagement Scale (Schaufeli, Martnez, et al., 2002), Optimal Experience Survey(Mesurado, 2008), Self-efficacy Scale (O?Sullivan, 2011), and Eustress Scale (O?Sullivan,2011). Results show that the theoretical model fits the data well in both countries and isinvariant across the Philippines and Argentina. Self-efficacy has a positive effect on flowand engagement, whereas eustress has a significant positive relationship with flow but is notdirectly associated with engagement. However, eustress has an indirect effect, through flow,on student engagement. On the other hand, there are different levels of engagement, flow,self-efficacy, and eustress. Argentinean students scored higher on absorption, dedication,self-efficacy, and flow. Filipino students, meanwhile, scored higher on eustress.Keywords: cross-cultural comparison, engagement, eustress, flow, self-efficacy