title: The Mediating Role of Self-Exertion on the Effects of Effort on Learning Virtues and Emotional Distress in Academic Failure in a Confucian Context.
abstract: Previous studies have found that in East Asian Confucian societies, hardworking students are often trapped in a dilemma of enjoying a positive moral image while suffering from emotional distress due to academic failure. This study intends to further explore whether the cultural-specific belief in self-exertion acts as a psychological mechanism to lessen these students' negative emotions. A group of 288 college students in Taiwan were administered a questionnaire to record their responses to past academic failures. The results from structural equation modeling showed that self-exertion functioned as a mediator between the effects of effort on learning virtues and emotional distress. Self-exertion to fulfill one's duty to oneself positively mediated the effect of effort on learning virtues, whereas self-exertion to fulfill one's duty to one's parents negatively mediated the effect of effort on emotional distress. Theoretical and cultural implications are further discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Teacher Education, National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Bih-Jen
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fwu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Learning Sciences, National Tsing Hua University Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shun-Wen
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Counseling, University of Taipei Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chih-Fen
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Center for Teacher Education, National Taiwan University Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiou-Huai
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Confucianism; effort; emotional distress; learning virtues; self-exertion