The influence of self-efficacy on academic goals and the mediating role of self-regulation of learning in a sample of university students

Self-regulation of learning, general self-efficacy and academic goals play fundamental roles for students in higher education because the interrelation among them influences the will and skills needed for the challenges of learning in a university setting. The aim of this study was to research the relationship between general self-efficacy and academic goals in a sample of Chilean university students, considering the mediating role of self-regulation of learning. Following a quantitative, nonexperimental and cross-sectional approach, an explanatory associative strategy was used to perform a mediation analysis between variables. For this purpose, 231 Chilean university students (68% women), aged between 18 and 29 (M = 19.8; SD = 1.39), answered three self-report instruments. The results from the models tested reveal that self-regulation of learning mediates the relationship between general self-efficacy and academic goals related to learning. It is concluded that the mission of vocational training is to promote occasions for training with learning opportunities for students to face academic tasks trusting in their abilities, self-managing their learning and reaching desired goals.