Psychological Factors Affecting the Academic Achievement of High School Students in the City of Sorman

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the psychological correlates of academic achievement in high school students in the Sorman area; more specifically the effects of academic anxiety, self-esteem, academic motivation and social support. The study adopted a quantitative data collection and analysis technique whereby a questionnaire was used on 200 students in three high schools in the area; Sorman Secondary School, Sakinah Bint Al-Hussein School, and Atef Secondary School. The findings of the study clearly indicated that academic anxiety is inversely related to academic performance, and self-esteem, academic motivation and social support are positively related to academic performance. The analysis of variance showed that the total of the psychological factors accounted for a considerable proportion of students’ performance. The study therefore recommended that boosting up self-esteem and motivation to study, besides academic anxiety reduction and provision of appropriate social support as the key variables that can improve academic performance. The study suggests the need to establish the educational and psychological programs aimed at increasing the observed factors in the school setting. This study has provided important information to the literature on psychological factors that influence performance and provides direction for subsequent studies to investigate the effects of these factors in other settings and among students of different backgrounds.