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Abstract:
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First generation (FG ) students are twice as likely as their non -first generation peers to drop out of college (Chen , 2005 ) , experiencing a host of challenges related to their FG status including poor academic preparation , limited familial support , nonstrategic college learning beliefs and processes , and problematic coping with academic disappointment . FG students who earn low grades often attribute these outcomes to an uncontrollable factor such as low intelligence (Dweck & Leggett , 1998 ) rather than a more controllable factor such as poor preparation for success or misunderstanding of the path to success . Some FG students matriculate through college successfully despite their risk status and one reason might be FG students who exhibit more self -compassion in the face of perceived or actual low grades are resilient even with their risk status . The study investigated relations between self -compassion for poor academic performance and the learning beliefs and processes (i .e . , motivation , goal orientation , fixed theory of intelligence , self -efficacy , anxiety , and fear of failure ) of FG students using hierarchical regression .
Overall , findings suggested that students with more self -compassion had more strategic learning beliefs and processes on ten out of eleven variables , regardless of their FG status . FG students did have a lower GPA and however only Asian FG students had less strategic learning beliefs in their fixed theory of intelligence . Contrary to hypotheses , however , as a group FG students did not have less self -compassion . Further research is needed on contextual factors surrounding FG status in other FG student populations . |