Effects of the internal working models of attachment, self-compassion, and academic motivation on academic delay of gratification behavior

Abstract

This study examines the effects of the internal working model of self-compassion, self-efficacy, and autonomous motivation on academic delay of gratification behavior. A self-reported questionnaire was administered to 170 university students (41 male, 128 female, and 1 unknown). A path analysis indicated that the relationship between the internal working model and academic delay of gratification behavior is mediated by self-compassion, self-efficacy, and autonomous motivation. More specifically, the model of self and model of other were both found to be positively related to self-compassion, followed by self-efficacy and autonomous motivation. Last, academic delay of gratification behavior was also elevated. The consistency between the results of this study and those of previous studies was discussed. In a future study, we intend to examine the factors of failure experience, cognitive strategies, and metacognitive strategies to increase the model’s explanation rate. Furthermore, the results also highlighted the need for a panel analysis and experimental research methods to examine the causal relationships more precisely.