Perfectionism and academic engagement, the mediating role of passion for the studies

In recent years, university institutions, together with the traditional interest in academic performance, are showing attention to the well-being of students. The concept of engagement tries to link both areas and suggests that there are motivational mechanisms common to well-being and performance. University adults choose to pursue high degree studies out of a desire for development that translates into a passion for learning. This passion has shown both positive and negative outcomes on well-being. Perfectionism has been shown to be a predictor of academic performance with different results in student health. For this reason, it is intended in the following work to analyze the relationship of perfectionism on the academic engagement and the mediating effect of passion for the studies, in 545 distance education university students, through a quasi-experimental design. Mediation analyzes are performed using the Partial Least Squares (PLS) method with SmartPLS software. Thus, self-oriented perfectionism has a significant relationship with academic engagement, both directly and through passion, especially harmonious passion. A different effect is observed with socialized perfectionism. The model presents an adequate predictive level (Q2= [.435 -.630]). Therefore, passion constitutes a mediating variable between students' perfectionist beliefs and academic engagement in the study sample (SRMR<.08; R2= 45% p<.005). Theoretical and practical implications are analyzed, such as the importance of implementing strategies that encourage students to play an active, challenging, and flexible role in their learning process.