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Responsibility of learning: a cross-cultural examination of the relationship of grit, motivational belief and self-regulation among college students in the US, UAE and Turkey

April 2019
Learning Environments Research 22(2)

DOI:10.1007/s10984-018-9268-y

Authors:

Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi

Khalifa University

Ernest Afari

University of Bahrain

Barış Sevi

MEF University

Betül Urgancı

Koc University

Show all 5 authorsHide

The present study explored the relationship between grit, motivational beliefs and self-regulation among undergraduate students in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. These factors place the responsibility of learning on the students, rather than the educational environment. As most studies continue to focus on Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic populations, the current investigation adds to the extant knowledge of non-cognitive factors in student learning by focusing on international samples in three different cultural contexts to determine if indeed these factors are related in diverse educational environments. Grit significantly predicted the other non-cognitive factors in each of the contexts studied. There was also a positive relationship between the two constructs representing motivational beliefs, namely, self-efficacy and task value, in each of the contexts studied. The relationship between the constructs, however, differed with respect to self-regulation behaviours in the three cultural contexts represented in the study. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed.

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Learning Environ Res (2019) 22:83–100

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-018-9268-y

1 3

ORIGINAL PAPER

Responsibility oflearning: across‑cultural examination

oftherelationship ofgrit, motivational belief

andself‑regulation amongcollege students intheUS,

UAE andTurkey

NausheenPasha‑Zaidi1 · ErnestAfari2· BarışSevi3,4· BetulUrganci5·

JustinDurham6

Received: 18 October 2017 / Accepted: 22 April 2018 / Published online: 2 May 2018

Abstract The present study explored the relationship between grit, motivational beliefs

and self-regulation among undergraduate students in the United States, the United Arab

Emirates and Turkey. These factors place the responsibility of learning on the students,

rather than the educational environment. As most studies continue to focus on Western,

educated, industrialised, rich and democratic populations, the current investigation adds

to the extant knowledge of non-cognitive factors in student learning by focusing on inter-

national samples in three diﬀerent cultural contexts to determine if indeed these factors

are related in diverse educational environments. Grit signiﬁcantly predicted the other non-

cognitive factors in each of the contexts studied. There was also a positive relationship

between the two constructs representing motivational beliefs, namely, self-eﬃcacy and task

value, in each of the contexts studied. The relationship between the constructs, however,

diﬀered with respect to self-regulation behaviours in the three cultural contexts represented

in the study. Possible explanations for these diﬀerences are discussed.

Keywords Grit· International education· Motivational beliefs· Self-regulation· Student

learning

* Nausheen Pasha-Zaidi

nausheenpasha@outlook.com

1 Houston Community College, University ofHouston-Downtown, Houston, TX, USA

2 Curtin University, Perth, Australia

3 Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

4 West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA

5 Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

6 University ofCentral Oklahoma, Edmond, OK, USA

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

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