Gender differences in the Perception of Social Support and Cognitive Engagement

A number of studies have provided evidence of the link between social support factors and academic achievement and a strong relation between cognitive engagement and achievement outcomes. However, the relationships between social support factors and cognitive engagement have seldom been tested. The present study is aimed at proposing latent factor modelling that addresses the significance of social support from parents, teachers and peers with respect to adolescent cognitive engagement. A total of 450 secondary school adolescents from a northern region in Malaysia participated in the survey. Using structural equation modelling as the main analysis, the hypothesised model was tested. Results revealed that the structural models differed for female and male models. Also, the findings support self-efficacy beliefs and behavioural engagement as two mediators in the relation between social support and cognitive engagement for girls, but only self-efficacy was a mediator in this association for boys. Implications of the study are discussed in relation to Bandura’s social cognitive theory.