Educational researchers have provided evidence that students who see themselves as valued members of their university (institutional belongingness) tend to have higher academic performance than students with a weaker sense of institutional belongingness. The current research draws on social cognitive theory to inspect two mechanisms that might explain this correlation: social self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies. We tested a double-mediation model with a large sample of students (n = 1,480) from one higher education institution in New Zealand. Using structural equation modeling, social self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies were meaningful contributors to the relation between institutional belongingness and Grade Point Average (GPA). Our discussion focuses on how universities can design strategies that promote belongingness and, in turn, improve how students interact, learn, and perform.

This study investigated the impact of family financial socialisation on the financial perceptions and behaviours of adolescents. Drawing from social learning theory, Gudmunson and Danes’ model of family financial socialisation, and the theory of planned behaviour, we examined the influence of family affluence and family financial openness on adolescents’ financial confidence, intentions, and behaviours. The research also explores gender differences and the distinct effects of family socialisation in banking and budgeting contexts. With a large sample of adolescents in New Zealand (n = 5,370), results using structural equation modelling reveal that family affluence corresponds with a higher perception of family financial openness, which influences their confidence in specific financial domains such as banking and budgeting. Our results also highlight a gap between confidence, intentions, and action in financial behaviours, with gender differences also impacting this dynamic. The findings offer insights for parents, policymakers, and financial institutions, emphasising the importance of family financial socialisation in fostering responsible financial practices among young people.

In this study, we sought to understand assessment-related attitudes and authentic experiences of evaluation anxiety with a sample of first-year university students. We focused on identifying: (a) why students had reported high levels of anxiety on a recent, grade-bearing assessment, and (b) how their attitudes toward assessment type and weighting influenced their views on anxiety and learning. Drawing on social constructivist principles, 31 first-year students in New Zealand participated in a 25-minute interview. Semi-structured interviews included open-ended items about students’ experiences with anxiety, followed by a Q-sort task that structured dialogue around assessment attitudes. Results show that evaluation anxiety was reportedly caused by several factors, including students’ doubts about their capabilities, concerns about insufficient time and time management, external pressures to be successful, unclear institutional standards for quality, and concerns about performing well on certain types of assessment. Students reported that oral presentations and high-stakes written tasks were more anxiety-inducing for them. Meanwhile, students reported that high-stakes written tasks, low-stakes tests, and low-stakes written tasks helped them learn more effectively than other assessment types and weightings. We discuss the implications of assessment design, including the challenges of evaluating students in a way that facilitates learning and limits unnecessary evaluation anxiety.

With increased academic and social challenges at school, middle childhood can be a particularly stressful time. The present study explored how a sample of children from a supportive learning environment interpreted, experienced and reported coping with everyday stress at school. Using a phenomenological approach, third graders attending an elementary school in the United States participated in semi-structured interviews in which they could discuss the nature of stress, stressful moments at school, and their responses to different situations. Despite nearly optimal learning conditions, child reports included a range of school stressors. Children’s interpretations of ‘stress’ seemed inextricably linked to their learning and social obstacles at school; those daily experiences were further linked to coping strategies. The discussion section emphasises the importance of understanding how children interpret and report stress and coping, and how pastoral care can support young students.