Self-Regulation of Learning and Academic Delay of Gratification: Gender and Ethnic Differences Among College Students

Abstract

Self-regulated learners engage in self-generated thoughts, actions, and feelings while pursuing academic goals. The most successful learners use appropriate learning strategies and maintain high levels of motivation. Few studies on the self-regulation of learning have examined individual differences such as gender and ethnicity among college students. The study examined gender and ethnic differences in the relationships between academic performance, self-regulation, motivation, and delay of gratification using correlational analyses. The study also investigated whether students from diverse gender and ethnic groups differed with regard to their use of self-regulation, motivation, delay of gratification, and academic performance using multivariate and univariate analyses of variance. Participants were 364 college students enrolled in introductory psychology courses in a public university. The results suggested the presence of gender and ethnic differences in motivation, use of cognitive strategies, and delay of gratification, and use of self-regulation of learning is ambiguous. The reported self-efficacy beliefs of all groups of students were moderately to highly correlated with grades. The results also suggested that, independent of gender or ethnicity, the student's evaluation of the importance and usefulness of the course task was related to achievement in the class. There were differences in the relationships between delay of gratification and the use of cognitive strategies, between ethnicity and gender groups. In examining the mean differences of each group, there was a significant difference between course grades, with Caucasian students obtaining higher grades. In addition, minority males also reported significantly lower self-confidence in their ability to perform academic tasks.

Academic Delay of Gratification and its Relationship to Motivational Determinants, Academic Achievement, and Study Hours among Omani High School Students: A Path Analysis

“…Descriptive analyses showed that females reported higher tendencies of academic delay of gratification than males. This finding is in line with the findings reported by Bembenutty and his colleagues (Bembenutty, 2007(Bembenutty, , 2009Bembenutty & Karabenick, 1998) using samples of college students. This finding is noteworthy since it suggests that males and females can show differences in the way they manage academic situations by remaining goal oriented and committed to tasks while facing distractions that are typical features of learning contexts.…”

“…This relationship can be explained within the framework of the self-regulated learning theory because academic delay of gratification has commonly been conceptualized as involving successful self-regulated learning (Bembenutty & Karabenick, 1998;Zimmerman, 1998). According to Bembenutty (2007Bembenutty ( , 2009, successful self-regulated learners engage in academic delay of gratification by deferring attractive activities in order to achieve long-term goals.…”

“…Bembenutty and Karabenick (1998) reported that academic delay of gratification correlated positively with expected and obtained final course grades in a sample of college students. Bembenutty (2007) found a positive relationship between academic delay of gratification and final course grade for Caucasian male and female college students. Bembenutty (2009) demonstrated that the positive relationship between academic delay of gratification and academic achievement held even after controlling for the effects of students' ratings of the course, expected grades, and the degree of interest, importance, and utility of the academic task.…”

“…Likewise, Bembenutty (2007) found in a sample of college students that minority females had higher levels of academic delay of gratification than Caucasian males. Bembenutty (2009) reported that gender was a significant predictor of academic delay of gratification of college students with female students reporting higher levels of academic delay of gratification than their male counterparts.…”

“…Bembenutty and his colleagues (Bembenutty, 2007(Bembenutty, , 2009Bembenutty & Karabenick, 1998) reported a positive association among college students between academic delay of gratification, time management and study environment. However, there is insufficient evidence of a link between academic delay of gratification and self-reported intentions and behavior that is indicative of academic delay of gratification, such as the actual time high school students devote to their study.…”