Faith conquers all? Demographic and psychological resources and their associations with academic performance among religious college students

ABSTRACT

Evidence on the association of religiosity and academic attainment is consistent, thus suggesting additional factors intervene in this relationship. We proposed and tested a model with two concepts from the field of positive psychology: psychological capital and psychological resilience. We hypothesised that these mediate the association between religiosity, demographic variables and academic achievement. We tested the model in a sample of 119 senior students in a Catholic university in Poland. The results partially supported the model; both psychological capital and psychological resilience mediated the association between religiosity and academic attainment but in different directions. Among the demographic variables, only age associated directly with achievement. The results are discussed in light of the existing evidence and positive psychology theory.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic achievement
• college
• students
• Christian
• religiosity
• psychological capital
• psychological resilience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Dorota Kornas-Biela

Dorota Kornas-Biela is a professor of KUL at the institute of pedagogy. Her expertise is in the fields of religious education, prenatal development and pedagogy. She is the author of numerous books and manuscripts, and the chair of the department of psycho-pedagogy at the institute. For her achievement she has been awarded numerous prizes from both the Polish government and the Vatican.

Klaudia Martynowska

Klaudia Martynowska is an assistant professor at the institute of pedagogy in KUL, Lublin. Her expertise is in the fields of organizational and vocation psychology.

Leehu Zysberg

Leehu Zysberg is a professor of psychology at the Gordon College of Education Graduate school, Haifa Israel.  His interest lies in the fields of organizational behavior, emotional aspects of everyday life, and assessment of human performance.