Strategies That Transform: Self-Regulation and Volitional Control as Keys to Academic Achievement

In recent years, research has highlighted a concerning lack of commitment and motivation among students on a global scale, leading to persistently low levels of competence across various areas of study. This phenomenon and its social consequences reveal a growing unease and an urgent need for sustainable solutions. Within the educational context, social cognitive theory explores self-regulated learning processes as the ability to manage and master a set of crucial factors for high-quality learning and academic excellence. Managing volitional control strategies is also essential in achieving academic success. The study aimed to analyze, through structural equation modeling, how self-regulated learning processes influence students’ academic performance. It also investigated how the volitional control strategies adopted by students might mediate between self-regulated learning and academic performance. The sample included 647 students (M age = 12.9) from the primary education cycle in Portuguese schools. The results showed that students with higher levels of self-regulated learning achieve better academic outcomes and more frequently employ volitional control strategies. Consequently, students who apply more volitional control strategies obtain superior academic performance, confirming the mediating role of these strategies. Some educational implications are discussed.