Influence of Conscientiousness on Academic Self-Efficacy in College Students: Dual Mediation by Growth Mindset and Grit

In recent decades, academic self-efficacy's important positive impact on academic achievement has reached a consensus in the academic community.This study aimed to find out the main contributors of academic self-efficacy and tried to figure out the mediating mechanism between them.To achieve the purpose of this study, the hypothetical research model was carried out and a survey was conducted on Chinese college students to prove the hypothesis.By purposive sampling method, the research questionnaires which comprised 66 items were given to four hundred and three respondents from two colleges that were potentially available for further intervention programs in China.The respondents of the study were enrolled in Financial Faculty or Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Faculty from the school year 2020 to 2022.With participants' consent and their understanding of the survey, the online questionnaires were finished and the results were collected.As for the main analysis tools, SPSS and PROCESS macro were used to perform the analysis.For specific analyzing methods, reliability test was used to ensure the variables' reliability, Pearson's bivariate correlation method was taken to show the connection among variables, and model No.6 of SPSS PROCESS macro was undertaken to show the dual mediating effect.The results of the study revealed that conscientiousness positively correlated with growth mindset, grit and academic self-efficacy, growth mindset positively connected with grit and academic self-efficacy and grit correlated with academic self-efficacy in a positive way.Secondly, growth mindset and grit double mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and academic self-efficacy, showing a partial mediating effect.The research result was of great significance, as it found out the main contributors of academic self-efficacy, and more importantly, it was the first study to prove the double mediating effect of growth mindset and grit on the connection from conscientiousness to academic self-efficacy so far, filling the gap in this field.At the same time, the research result also suggested that more education methods should be renewed to enhance conscientiousness, growth mindset and grit's positive impact on academic self-efficacy, and indirectly improve the academic performance of students.