Meaning and motivation: how purpose, learning strategies, and self-control relate to academic functioning in higher education

Introduction Student retention and academic success remain pressing challenges in higher education. This study draws on existential and self-regulated learning frameworks to investigate how meaning in life, motivated learning strategies, and delay of gratification are jointly associated with perceived academic performance among college students. Methods Participants were 260 undergraduates from a public university in the United States who completed measures of meaning in life (presence and search), motivated learning strategies, delay of gratification across everyday domains, and perceived academic performance. Results Correlational analyses indicated that presence of meaning was positively associated with motivated learning strategies, delay of gratification, and perceived academic performance, whereas search for meaning showed weaker and more limited associations. Ordinal regression and path analyses revealed that motivated learning strategies were the strongest correlates of perceived academic performance and represented a key indirect association pattern in the model. Specifically, the association between presence of meaning and perceived academic performance was partially accounted for by motivated learning strategies, whereas the association between delay of gratification and academic performance was fully accounted for by motivated learning strategies. Reciprocal analyses suggested that motivated learning strategies were also positively associated with students' sense of meaning, though this pattern was weaker. No evidence was found that meaning in life moderated the effectiveness of learning strategies. Discussion Overall, these findings support the Meaning-Strategy-Control Model, suggesting that motivated learning strategies occupy a central proximal role in the pattern of associations linking broader motivational and self-regulatory resources with academic functioning. The results underscore the value of integrating purpose development with instruction in concrete learning strategies to support student engagement and success in higher education.