Attributional style, self-efficacy, and stress as predictors of academic success and academic satisfaction in college students

Poor academic performance and high dropout rates remain persistent problems among undergraduate college students. The focus of this study was to explore if intrapersonal psychological variables such as attributional style and self-efficacy, as well as extrapersonal variables, such as life stress and campus climate, predicted academic success. Data collection consisted of several computerized surveys administered to 250 undergraduate students. Multivariate hierarchical regressions were conducted to assess any associations between the indicators of success (i.e., postgraduate expectations, college grade point average (GPA), academic satisfaction and retention) and the four aforementioned psychological predictors. This study did not find any significant predictors of college GPA. Furthermore, campus climate and self-efficacy, in conjunction with a more traditional predictor pertaining to student background (i.e., mother's level of education) predicted academic satisfaction. The life stress indicator along with the background variable age predicted total postgraduate expectations, and only age and attributional style for positive events predicted the probability of pausing college. It should be emphasized, however, that the variables in this study explained limited variance in any of the markers of retention and academic success, which is congruent with previous findings. Further research should be conducted in order to explain the unknown variance and identify the factors that influence the academic success of college students in order to implement interventions to improve not only the students' GPA but also to assure that students will complete their career and will fulfill future post-graduate expectations.