The combined effects of teachers’ caring behavior and academic self-efficacy on the academic achievement of Chinese undergraduates: a fsQCA approach
- 1School of economics and management, Hebei Agricultural University, No. 2596, lekainan street, Lianchi District, Baoding City, Hebei Province 071001 China
- 2Modern Educational Technology Center, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding City, Hebei Province 071001 China
- 3School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province 210016 China
Abstract
Existing literature focuses on the influence of single or multiple factors on college students’ academic achievement, and few studies analyze the synergistic effect of multiple factors on college students’ academic achievement. Taking 276 college students as samples, this study used the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the linkage effect of 5 antecedents on college students’ academic achievement from the two aspects of teachers’ caring behavior and academic efficacy. The results show that conscientiousness, supportiveness, inclusiveness, academic ability efficacy and academic behavior efficacy are not necessary conditions for the high or nonhigh academic achievement, and single anthems have weak explanatory power for the academic achievement. There are three ways to drive college students’ academic achievement, namely, the supportiveness-ability efficacy driving model, the conscientiousness-supportiveness-behavior efficacy driving model, and the conscientiousness-efficacy driving model. There are two paths leading to nonhigh academic achievement, and they are asymmetrical with the path of academic achievement improvement. By unpacking the configurational causal relationships among teachers’ caring behavior, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement, this study enriches extant literature through the fsQCA approach. It further delivers theoretical underpinnings and actionable suggestions for improving college students’ academic performance.
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BibTeX
@article{tang2026combined,
title = {{The combined effects of teachers’ caring behavior and academic self-efficacy on the academic achievement of Chinese undergraduates: a fsQCA approach}},
author = {Chaoyong Tang and Yongzhi Shi and Fan Jiang and Wanming Chen},
journal = {BMC Psychology},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1186/s40359-026-05227-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05227-5},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The combined effects of teachers’ caring behavior and academic self-efficacy on the academic achievement of Chinese undergraduates: a fsQCA approach
AU - Chaoyong Tang
AU - Yongzhi Shi
AU - Fan Jiang
AU - Wanming Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/24
JO - BMC Psychology
DO - 10.1186/s40359-026-05227-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05227-5
AB - Existing literature focuses on the influence of single or multiple factors on college students’ academic achievement, and few studies analyze the synergistic effect of multiple factors on college students’ academic achievement. Taking 276 college students as samples, this study used the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the linkage effect of 5 antecedents on college students’ academic achievement from the two aspects of teachers’ caring behavior and academic efficacy. The results show that conscientiousness, supportiveness, inclusiveness, academic ability efficacy and academic behavior efficacy are not necessary conditions for the high or nonhigh academic achievement, and single anthems have weak explanatory power for the academic achievement. There are three ways to drive college students’ academic achievement, namely, the supportiveness-ability efficacy driving model, the conscientiousness-supportiveness-behavior efficacy driving model, and the conscientiousness-efficacy driving model. There are two paths leading to nonhigh academic achievement, and they are asymmetrical with the path of academic achievement improvement. By unpacking the configurational causal relationships among teachers’ caring behavior, academic self-efficacy, and academic achievement, this study enriches extant literature through the fsQCA approach. It further delivers theoretical underpinnings and actionable suggestions for improving college students’ academic performance.
SN - 2050-7283
ER -