Perceived school kindness and academic engagement: The mediational roles of achievement goal orientations

Kindness and student outcomes

Existing literature has highlighted the potential significance of teaching kindness in the school settings (Kaplan, deBlois, Dominguez, & Walsh, 2016). These benefits may include but are not limited to improved social-emotional functioning (Flook et al., 2015) and higher levels of well-being (Otake et al., 2006). Over the years, various school-based kindness programs like Kindness in the Classroom Program (The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, 2015) and Kind Campus Program (Ben's Bells Project, 2015) have been created to cultivate kindness in student populations.

There has been growing evidence suggesting that kindness is an important virtue that relates to psychological and social well-being. Research has indicated that kindness could increase not only the receiver's but also the giver's well-being (Cotney & Banerjee, 2019). Studies have demonstrated that performing acts of kindness was associated with increased levels of psychological well-being (Buchanan & Bardi, 2010; Dunn, Aknin, & Norton, 2008; Layous, Lee, Choi, & Lyubomirsky, 2013; Otake, Shimai, Tanaka-Matsumi, Otsui, & Fredrickson, 2006), higher levels of peer acceptance (Layous, Nelson, Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Lyubomirsky, 2012), and lower levels of social avoidance goals (Trew & Alden, 2015).

A recent systematic and meta-analytic review has also demonstrated that there was a small to medium effect size between kindness interventions and well-being outcomes (Curry, Rowland, Van Lissa, Zlotowitz, McAlaney, & Whitehouse, 2018). Even the act of simply counting acts of kindnesses has increased subjective happiness among college students (Otake et al., 2006). Documenting acts of kindness through a diary has also resulted in higher levels of connectedness to others and optimism in a clinical sample (Kerr, O'Donovan, & Pepping, 2015). In general, character strengths such as kindness and social intelligence that potentially promote connectedness to others, have positively predicted well-being in student populations (Gillham et al., 2011).

Despite the continuously growing body of knowledge on how kindness may affect individual's emotional, behavioral, and social well-being, previous studies focused more on examining the effects of dispositional kindness (Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2006; Shimai, Otake, Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2006) or kindness interventions at the individual level (Buchanan & Bardi, 2010; Kerr et al., 2015; Otake et al., 2006). To date, only limited research has examined how school climate that supports kindness (or school kindness), may influence students' positive psychological functioning. Furthermore, although a study showed that individual student's early prosocial tendencies (e.g., cooperating and consoling behavior) impacted their academic achievements five years later (Caprara et al., 2000), it remains largely unknown whether school kindness relate to positive student academic outcomes. One exception is a study by Binfet et al. (2016). It showed a positive link between school kindness and relevant criterion variables such as life satisfaction, prosocial goals, classroom supportiveness, and academic self-efficacy in a sample of grade 4 to grade 8 students (Binfet, Gadermann, & Schonert-Reichl, 2016).

The present study

Given that kindness has several psychological benefits in individuals and is a desired organizational virtue that promotes morale of its members and binds people together (Park & Peterson, 2003), it is important to study the effects of kindness in the organizational school context on students' academic-related functioning. Research in positive organization reported that organizational settings such as schools provide psychological safety to its members when they foster a positive culture where kindness and acceptance become the norm (Carmeli & Gittell, 2009). Thus, it is conceivable that in kind school environments students may feel more respected, supported, and valued.

In the current study, we examined the link between students' perception of school kindness and their academic engagement. Academic engagement pertains to the students' overall involvement in the school settings (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Specifically, we used the four-factor model of academic engagement developed by Reeve and Tseng (2011). This engagement model has pinpointed four dimensions of academic engagement namely – agentic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement. Agentic engagement refers to the students' proactive participation to classroom lecture and discussions. Behavioral engagement pertains to students' effortful desire to perform academic activities. Cognitive engagement refers to the students' desire to apply cognitive and metacognitive strategies when carrying out academic tasks. Emotional engagement pertains to the extent to which students experience positive emotions (e.g., joy) when performing school-related activities. It is possible that school kindness may be linked to elevated levels of academic engagement dimensions because previous research has demonstrated that performing acts of kindness increased students' school engagement (Ouweneel, Le Blanc, & Schaufeli, 2014).

To provide preliminary evidence on the motivational processes underpinning the hypothesized association of perceived school kindness with academic engagement, we also explored whether perceived school kindness would have indirect effects on different dimensions of academic engagement via achievement goal orientation. The achievement goal framework has pointed out that there are four categories of goals for student learning namely – mastery-approach goals, mastery-avoidance goals, performance-approach goals, and performance avoidance goals (Elliot & Mcgregor, 2001; Elliot & Murayama, 2008). Mastery-approach goals refer to the students' intent to acquire and master the content of learning material. Mastery-avoidance goals pertain to the desire to avoid failure to master the content of learning material. Performance-approach goals refer to the desire to outperform other students or peers. Performance-avoidance goals pertain to the intent to avoid being outclassed by classmates or other students. Although this motivational model has considered mastery-approach goals to be the most adaptive dimension of achievement goal orientation (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Elliot & Murayama, 2008), it is likely that performance-approach goals hold significant benefits in collectivist societies (i.e., Philippines) because studies have shown that even extrinsic motivation may be associated with positive learning outcomes in collectivist cultural contexts (Cheng & Lam, 2013; Datu, 2018).

The hypothesized indirect effects of school kindness on academic engagement domains through the intermediate variables – achievement goal orientation dimensions are corroborated by the existing positive psychological literature. The framework of our study was based on two theoretical perspectives namely: The engine theory of well-being (Jayawickreme, Forgeard, & Seligman, 2012) and the hierarchical model of achievement motivation (Elliot, 1999).

Firstly, the engine theory of well-being (Jayawickreme et al., 2012) has posited that well-being could be categorized into input, process, and outcome variables. Input variables pertain to any external (e.g., perceived support from teachers) or internal (e.g., gratitude and kindness) variables that predict essential outcome variables. Outcome variables refer to voluntary actions that serve as indicators of individuals' well-being like accomplishment, meaningful relationships, and engagement (e.g., academic achievement). This theory has proposed that input variables impact outcome variables via the mediating influence of process variables. Process variables refer to any internal psychological states that can shape decisions or behaviors (e.g., self-efficacy). In this study, we operationalized school kindness as an extrinsic input variable as previous studies have shown that this construct was linked to academic self-efficacy and well-being outcomes (Binfet et al., 2016). Consistent with the classification of well-being variables proposed in previous research (Datu, Yuen, & Chen, 2018), we categorized academic engagement as an outcome variable. We also operationalized achievement goal orientation as a process variable. This approach is supported by the findings in existing literature on the mediational effects of achievement goal orientation on the link between various input variables and academic-related outcomes (Xiang, Liu, & Bai, 2017).

Secondly, the hierarchical model of achievement motivation (Elliot, 1999) can support the hypothesized indirect link of school kindness to academic engagement via the intermediate variables – achievement goal orientations. This model has pointed out that some personal and environmental factors can influence individuals' tendencies to espouse specific achievement goals which in turn, can impact on various performance or achievement outcomes (Elliot, 1999). It is likely that school kindness may be associated with mastery-approach goals, as previous research has demonstrated a positive correlation between positive school climates that promote mutual respect, positive interaction, and emotional support between teachers and students, and mastery goals (Roeser, Midgley, & Urdan, 1996; Wang & Holcombe, 2010).

However, there were inconsistent findings between students' perception of school climate and performance goals. As a result, we did not propose any hypothesis between school kindness and the performance-approach goal, especially given the dearth of literature showing a link between organizational-level kindness and learning outcomes in collectivist contexts.

As past literature has indicated that mastery-approach goals can be related to adaptive achievement outcomes (Elliot & McGregor, 2001; Elliot & Murayama, 2008), it is anticipated that mastery-approach goals may be linked to student engagement dimensions in the present study. Consistent with prior research on the role that performance goals play in collectivist contexts (Yu & Martin, 2014), it is possible that even performance-approach goals may be associated with higher levels of academic engagement. Lastly, as this theory has specified that achievement goal orientations can mediate the effects of personal or environmental variables on a wide range of academic outcomes (Elliot, 1999), it is anticipated that school kindness may have indirect effects on academic engagement via the intermediate-variables – mastery-approach goals and performance-approach. Given the scarcity of investigations demonstrating associations between kindness and performance-approach goals as well as kindness and avoidance goals (i.e., mastery and performance avoidance goals), we did not propose hypotheses on school kindness and such achievement goal orientations.

Therefore, the current study aimed to examine the association of school kindness with various dimensions of academic engagement among selected senior secondary school students in the Philippine context. It also explored the indirect effects of perceived school kindness on engagement domains via the intermediate variables –achievement goal orientations. In the present study, three related questions were investigated: (a) Does perceived school kindness relate to students' academic engagement dimensions?; (b) Do students' achievement goal orientations relate to academic engagement dimensions?; and (c) Which achievement goal orientations mediate the association between school kindness and academic engagement dimensions?

The following hypotheses are tested in this study:

Hypothesis 1: Perceived school kindness will positively predict all domains of academic engagement.

Hypothesis 2: Perceived school kindness will positively predict mastery-approach goals.

Hypothesis 3: Mastery-approach goals and performance-approach goals will positively predict all dimensions of academic engagement.

Hypothesis 4: Perceived school kindness will have indirect effects on all domains of academic engagement via the intermediate variables – mastery-approach goals.

Participants

The sample comprised of 116 senior secondary school students from three classes in a private high school in Makati City, Philippines. The average age of the participants was 17.39 (SD = 0.83). There were 77 female and 36 male students. Three students did not report their gender. Before administering the survey, approval to conduct this research was secured from the Human Research Ethics Committee of the first author's university. All participants signed active consent forms prior to participating in the study.

Measures

Data analyses

Prior to conducting descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, confirmatory factor analyses were carried out using the 23rd version of AMOS to examine the psychometric properties of the abovementioned scales. Consistent with the recommended cut-off values of Kline (2005), a Comparative fit index (CFI) higher than 0.90 as well as Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) and Root mean square error of approximation less than 0.08 would indicate good fit. Descriptive statistics like mean and standard deviation of all the variables were calculated. Pearson-r correlational coefficients were computed to examine the association of school kindness with achievement goal orientation dimensions and engagement domains. Effect sizes between school kindness and engagement as well as achievement goal orientations were reported and interpreted based on the guidelines of Gignac and Szodorai (2016) which pointed out that correlational coefficients of 0.10, 0.20, and 0.30 can be regarded as small, typical, and relatively large. Bias-corrected bootstrapping analyses at 95% confidence interval using 1,000 bootstrapped resamples via PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2018) were used to assess whether school kindness would have indirect effects on academic engagement domains via the intermediate variables – achievement goal orientation dimensions. All these statistical analyses were conducted via the 23rd version of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

Limitations and future directions

Although the current study contributes to understanding the relationship between school kindness and academic engagement and motivation, it has limitations that need to be considered for the interpretation of the results and future research considerations. First, the cross-sectional design of this investigation prevents us from drawing causal inferences between school kindness and academic-related outcomes. Future longitudinal research approach or experimental and intervention studies could provide more valid evidence about the effects of school kindness on learning processes and engagement. Second, this study relies solely on student self-reports, which may be vulnerable to the common method bias and social desirability bias. In particular, future research should include measures of school kindness from different informants such as teachers, parents, peers, and school staff and utilize diverse data collection methods including interviews, observation and other objective measures such as school records. Third, although this study did not measure these, there could be other psychological, social or emotional factors that may mediate the effects of perceived school kindness on academic engagement. For example, a sense of connectedness has long been recognized as an important motivating factor for academic achievement (Walton, Cohen, Cwir, & Spencer, 2012). Further studies on possible mediators are necessary to better understand the pathway between school kindness and achievement outcomes. Fourth, this study used a small sample of senior Filipino secondary school students from one school, which limits the generalizability of our findings. Future studies with larger sample sizes from varied cultural contexts and educational systems would be useful to validate the current findings and provide more comprehensive insight into the role of school kindness to predict academic engagement and the motivational process in various contexts.

Practical implications

Our research findings have significant implications for educators, administrators, parents, and policy makers. That is, when students see the school as a kind place, they are more motivated and interested in learning. The findings of the current study point to the significance of creating positive school climates and fostering social-emotional learning skills to boost academic success in student populations (Domitrovich, Durlak, Staley, & Weissberg, 2017; Weissberg, Durlak, Domitrovich, & Gullotta, 2015). Building and sustaining positive school culture requires the commitment of the entire community. Administrators, staff, teachers, parents, and school mental health professionals should work collaboratively to create school environments that aim to promote kindness. At the individual level, teachers can play an important role in fostering students' sense of kindness as previous research have demonstrated that teachers serve as primary adult model of kindness in school (Binfet & Passmore, 2017) and some children tend to characterize teaching as an act of kindness (Binfet, 2016). Parenting practices are also important for building positive school culture. Students' character and attitudes are often reflections of their family life. Parents are encouraged to use social reinforcement techniques that have been found to be influential in cultivating children's kindness such as showing approval of students' kind acts, praising children's character when kind acts are performed, and showing how they love their children (Bower & Casas, 2016). Equally important, efforts are needed for setting or changing the cultural norms of schools to be more kind and caring to sustain a positive school culture (Schultz, Nolan, Cialdini, Goldstein, & Griskevicius, 2007).