ARTICLES

 

Positive psychology constructs associated with academic success in South African secondary schools: A scoping review

 

 

Liezel Naidoo^I; Tharina Guse^II

^IDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa liezelshirleynaidoo@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0146-2082
^IIDepartment of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa tharina.guse@up.ac.za https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9541-0392

 

 

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ABSTRACT

In the South African education system, there is consistent concern about academic success and how it can be supported. Using a positive psychology lens could add additional insight on aspects of positive psychological functioning that may be associated with academic success. This scoping review examined literature on positive psychology constructs identified in association with academic success in South African secondary schools. Databases and other relevant sources were searched for studies implemented between 2007 and 2022. The search strategy yielded 15 studies for analysis. The results indicate that out of 46 potential positive psychology constructs, only 25 have been investigated in South African literature. The most researched construct was social support, followed by achievement motivation, and hope.

Keywords: academic success, achievement, high school, positive psychology, scoping review, social support

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Introduction

Education is a vital domain in life that leads to a higher standard of living and subjective quality of life (Omidire, 2019). The benefits of education are far-reaching and extend beyond economic dimensions to various components of holistic well-being (Scharf et al., 2019). However, the educational challenges and barriers faced by policymakers, schools, teachers, parents, and learners worldwide are significant. These challenges include high learner dropout rates from school, low numeracy and literacy rates, chronic school disengagement, and a high number of learners unable to meet minimum academic proficiency levels (Department of Basic Education [DBE], 2024; Eloff, 2013; Fourie & Schlebusch, 2021; van der Westhuizen, 2023). The challenges are especially evident in South Africa, characterised by a long history of structural disadvantage, inequality, and poverty (Albien & Naidoo, 2018; Thaba-Nkadimende, 2022).

Many school-attending learners seem to have challenges achieving a passing grade, let alone academic success. According to the most recently published global statistics, in 2018 more than 612 million school-attending learners worldwide were not achieving the minimum levels of academic proficiency for a passing grade (United Nations, 2020). Those who do achieve a passing grade seldom reach a grade average that would make them eligible for higher education. In South Africa, 40.9% of learners who wrote the National Senior Certificate exam for 2023 achieved the bachelor's pass necessary to pursue higher education. On average since 2016, the percentage has ranged anywhere from 26.6% to 36.4% (DBE, 2024). While these numbers seem to be on the rise, they only tell a partial story.

Passing grades and the pursuit of higher education in the last year of schooling is only half the challenge in the education domain. Throughout a learner's schooling career, there is a risk of school dropout. Worldwide, 71% of secondary school learners complete school and, in sub-Saharan Africa, only 38% of those initially enrolled complete school (UNESCO Institute for Statistics [UIS], 2019). In South Africa, the 2023 cohort saw a nearly 40% dropout rate since starting school in Grade 1 (DBE, 2024). If Grade 12 pass rates also took dropout rates into consideration, then the final pass rate for 2023 would shift from 82.9% to just over 55%. School dropout rates are more significant in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries (UIS, 2019). The level of academic success associated with so many benefits is therefore not a simple goal to reach in South Africa, which raises the question of whether anything can be done to alleviate poor academic performance.

Current responses to poor academic performance and educational challenges internationally and in South Africa show an inclination towards problem-focused approaches. Educational systems develop and enforce policies and practices that compare student abilities, focus on correcting underachievement, emphasise deficiencies that need correction, and promote competitiveness (Kern, 2022; Ngalo-Morrison, 2017). Although the deficit approach provides valuable insights into understanding the extent of the problem, it is limited with respect to changing the outcomes of educational challenges. The field of positive psychology, with its focus on human strengths and capacities, optimal functioning, and human well-being, offers an additional lens from which to understand and promote academic achievement (Cabanas & González-Lamaz, 2022; Eloff, 2013; Gill et al., 2021).

International literature has generated substantial research on academic success in secondary school, identifying positive constructs and the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions (PPIs; Froh et al., 2011; Lomas et al., 2021; White & Kern, 2018). However, most of this research was conducted in Western individualistic contexts (Hendriks et al., 2019), and an earlier review of positive psychology literature in African countries was broadly focused on PPIs in various domains without specific consideration of the positive constructs in a school setting (Guse, 2022). It is therefore important to investigate positive constructs relevant in a South African educational context.

The term "positive" used to describe positive psychology constructs, is loaded with complexity because it has many meanings in various fields. In the field of positive psychology alone, the term has at least half a dozen meanings (Pawelski, 2016a). Therefore, it is crucial to delineate the meaning of the term in this study. Pawelski (2016a, 2016b) outlined the criteria required for identifying positive constructs and, briefly put, a construct is "positive" when it is preferable, long lasting, relevant to many people, has positive flow-on effects, and is transferrable across contexts. Du Plessis' (2014) metatheoretical classification of positive constructs provides further guidance to identify constructs relevant to positive psychology research. He proposed that positive constructs are (a) positive characteristics, (b) healthy processes, and (c) positive outcomes. A positive construct should have positive characteristics that are enduring, trait-like, and pervasive across various contexts (du Plessis, 2014; Snyder & Lopez, 2005). Further, positive constructs should enable healthy processes of living, behaviour, or cognition that could facilitate growth, adaption, and the fulfilment of needs. Such processes should lead to positive outcomes. Finally, positive outcomes are subjective experiences of eudaimonic or hedonic well-being (du Plessis, 2014; Lopez & Snyder, 2003). Hedonic well-being can be operationalised as the presence of positive emotions or pleasure along with the absence of negative emotions. Eudaimonic well-being is defined as the presence of life elements that contribute to optimal psychosocial functioning, for example, meaning in life, social contribution, and a sense of personal growth (Joshanloo et al., 2021). In this review, both Pawelski's (2016a) and du Plessis' (2014) frameworks were used broadly to identify positive psychology constructs in association with academic success.

It is important to differentiate between positive psychology as a perspective and positive psychology as a discipline when identifying positive psychology constructs. As a perspective, positive psychology can be a lens through which to analyse studies that align with the values and intentions of positive psychology without overtly identifying with a positive psychology framework. Viewed as a discipline, studies purposefully situate themselves within the framework of positive psychology (Kern & Wehmeyer, 2021). This review considered research from both perspectives in order to be exhaustive.

We implemented a scoping review to examine the extent, range, and nature of research on positive constructs that may support and enhance academic success in South African secondary schools. The purpose of the study was twofold: first, to identify and map the available evidence on the current topic, and second, to identify possible research gaps in existing literature (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005).

 

Research method

Research design

Scoping reviews are useful to investigate emerging evidence in a field, obtain an overall picture of existing research, and to identify knowledge gaps (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005; Munn et al., 2018). The central research question for this study was: "What literature is available concerning positive psychology constructs that have been identified in association with academic success in South African secondary schools?" The broad aim was to explore and describe existing research on positive psychology constructs associated with academic success in South African secondary schools.

Review process

We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews checklist to draft the study protocol and ensure quality reporting (Tricco et al., 2018). The protocol can be viewed as a research plan or proposal that includes elements such as the research rationale, objectives, eligibility criteria, search strategies, and plans for data analyses and synthesis. The full version of the protocol is available on request from the first author.

Search strategy and study selection

Data sources were searched between May and August 2022. Bibliographic databases were the primary data source and included the following: Scopus, Taylor & Francis, South African Journal of Education, Google Scholar, and EBSCOhost. Unpublished dissertations or theses were searched within institutional repositories of University of Pretoria, University of Johannesburg, and North-West University because publications from these institutions yielded the majority of the initial scoping search references, and time constraints limited further repository searches. Relevant reference lists were also scanned for applicable literature. Finally, academics in the field of positive psychology at University of Pretoria and North-West University were consulted to offer additional literature and information sources.

We included only South African research that reported on individuals and groups that were either secondary school learners, staff members working directly with secondary school learners, or parents of secondary school learners. The studies had to include positive psychology constructs (either overtly using positive psychology as a discipline, or inadvertently using positive psychology as a perspective) and report an association with academic success.

Definitions of academic success included as acceptable were a passing grade for previously failing learners, or an increase in marks from a previous baseline, or acquiring a school diploma, or academic performance that enabled the pursuit of higher education. The search was limited to literature published in English within the last 15 years (January 2007-August 2022) because international literature on positive psychology only started steadily increasing from the early 2000s (Lomas et al., 2021). Given that scoping reviews aim to determine the types of available evidence, the inclusion criteria were not limited by a specific type of research design (Tricco et al., 2018). Original, peer-reviewed articles were included along with unpublished theses or dissertations. Abstract-only texts and conference papers were excluded due to the limited information provided by these sources. Book chapters were also excluded due to time and resource constraints.

The Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies guidelines were used to ensure that the main search strategy was error-free, replicable, and accurate (McGowan et al., 2016). Each data source was searched multiple times using a new search string for every positive construct of interest. The terms were accompanied by standard Boolean operators, wildcards, and truncations, which were used to combine or exclude certain search terms. Below, is an example of one such search string using the positive psychology construct of creativity:

"South Africa*" AND "positive psychology" AND (creativity OR originality OR ingenuity OR innovation) AND (academic OR educational OR learn* OR scholastic OR school) AND (success OR achievement OR attainment OR outcomes OR performance OR results) AND ("secondary school" OR "intermediate school" OR "high school" OR "senior high school") NOT "university."

The central sourcing points for identifying positive constructs included in the search terms were derived from dominant positive psychology literature using du Plessis' (2014) taxonomical components and Pawelski's (2016a, 2016b) criteria. Initially, positive constructs were sourced from a list designed by Lopez et al. (2006). Further, a list of constructs from the Handbook of Positive Psychology (Snyder & Lopez, 2005), Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook of Classification (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), Positive Psychological Assessment: A Handbook of Models and Measures (Lopez & Snyder, 2003), Towards Flourishing: Embracing Well-being in Diverse Contexts (Wissing et al., 2020), and other recent positive psychology publications were cross-compared and integrated into a single list of 46 constructs.

The search strategy yielded 6,866 titles that were screened for relevance. Only copies of the literature representing the best fit for answering the research question were selected for review. We screened the studies in an iterative process because it involved alterations to the search strategy and the exclusion and inclusion criteria based on increased familiarity with the topic as studies were collected (Arksey & O'Malley, 2005). Ultimately, 15 studies were identified for analysis, as seen in Figure 1.

 

Results

As reflected in Figure 1, 15 studies were finally included in the results section. The synthesised data is presented as a data chart in Table 1, which captured relevant information on key study characteristics and detailed information on the positive constructs identified in association with academic success in secondary school.

 

Type of research output, location, and participants

The majority of studies were journal articles (n = 13), followed by one unpublished doctoral thesis and one unpublished master's dissertation. One study's exact location within South Africa was unspecified, while another reported on data collected across South Africa. Two studies reported taking place in the general Gauteng area. One study specified Johannesburg and two specified Pretoria. The Johannesburg study also reported on data collected from Ghana and Kenya. Two studies collected data in the Western Cape province. One study took place across three provinces, namely, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal. The Free State reported two studies. The Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and North-West provinces were reported as single study locations by one study each. The schools included in the studies varied in description, but the majority of schools included were schools in high-poverty contexts (n = 9), followed by independent schools (n = 6), public schools (n = 5), former Model C schools (n = 3), advantaged schools (n = 3), and a general education training school (n = 1).

The study participants were predominantly secondary school learners (n = 15,373 across 12 studies), followed by secondary school staff members working directly with the learners (n = 413 across two studies), and secondary school parents (n = 114 in one study). Only some studies reported the gender, racial, and ethnic information of the participants. After reading the descriptions of the research settings, we determined that the vast majority of studies mainly included only Black African participants-there were 650 Black African participants across studies compared to 355 White and Coloured participants. In all studies, except one, female participants outnumbered male participants.

 

Research design, framework, and aims

In terms of research design, most studies used a quantitative approach (n = 9), followed by a qualitative approach (n = 5). Only one study used a mixed methods study design. The quantitative studies, barring one study that used the data from the Trend in Mathematical and Science Study (TIMMS; Reddy et al., 2013) used a variety of questionnaires. TIMMS is conducted every four years and is an assessment of the science and mathematics knowledge of Grade 4 and Grade 8 learners. In the qualitative studies, two implemented semi-structured focus groups and two conducted semi-structured individual interviews. One study conducted both semi-structured individual interviews and a focus group. The mixed methods study was an intervention programme implemented in a group setting. The researcher completed pre-and post-test questionnaires and mathematics tests for the quantitative section of the study and individual interviews for the qualitative section. Many studies used either academic reports (n = 5), academic tests (n = 1), or the TIMMS data (n = 1) as performance measures. One study selected learners for participation based on their performance, while others used the performance data as a comparator for identifying qualities related to academic success for high-performing learners (n = 4). The intervention study used the results of the pre-and-post academic test as an assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention. The studies that did not use academic reports relied on guidance from school staff for selecting academically successful learners for participation.

Most studies (n = 6) used either a positive psychology framework, an assets-based approach, or positive psychology theories. Two studies did not specify a framework or working theory and some of the studies (n = 5) did not explicitly use a positive psychology framework, but their results aligned with an assets-based approach.

As outlined in the criteria, all the studies aimed to explore factors contributing to academic success, either generally or subject-specific. Three studies were constructivist and exploratory on identifying positive constructs that were associated with academic success (Geduld, 2017; Hemson, 2018; Naidoo & van Schalkwyk, 2021). The remaining studies predetermined positive constructs for investigation. Most studies were focused on correlating various types of social support and positive relationships with academic outcomes (n = 5). Two studies also incorporated resilience and motivation as possible factors associated with academic success (Bester & Kuyper, 2020; Schulze & Lemmer, 2017). Resilience (n = 2) and motivation (n = 2) were also investigated independently in two studies each (Grobler et al., 2014; Lethale & Pillay, 2013; Schulze & van Heerden, 2015; Schutte, 2012). One of the resilience studies additionally investigated self-regulation (Schutte, 2012). Self-regulation was the main focus of association in one study (Molokoli, 2014) and developmental assets were the focus in another study (Adams et al., 2019).

Outcomes and positive constructs

Most correlational studies (n = 14) reported positive associations between the investigated positive constructs and academic success. Only one study did not find a significant relationship between resilience and academic success but a moderate relationship between self-regulation and academic success (Schutte, 2012). The exploratory studies found that academic success was associated with multiple positive constructs forming part of a bioecological context (Geduld, 2017; Hemson, 2018; Naidoo & van Schalkwyk, 2021). While we identified 46 positive constructs prior to the review, only 25 were identified in the selected 15 studies included in this review, as reflected in Table 2. Some of the positive constructs that were not identified include character strengths, curiosity/interest, flow/mindfulness, and kindness.

 

Discussion

Despite the large number of international studies reporting on the benefits of including positive psychology within a school context (Lomas et al., 2021), and the reported increase in the number of positive psychology publications related to academic success internationally (Froh et al., 2011) and in non-Western countries (Hendriks et al., 2019), South African research on the topic is still limited. This is concerning given that Eloff (2013) encouraged researchers to investigate the relationship between school-wide interventions and more complex variables such as academic performance and increased attendance a decade ago. Although South African positive psychology research is expanding, including research in educational contexts (see Wilson & Wissing, 2022, for an overview), there is clearly an urgent need to focus on its application to academic achievement. The type of research conducted in the identified studies varied. Barring one study that implemented an intervention, the remaining studies investigated the link between academic success and either a predetermined positive construct or identified constructs in an exploratory approach. Each study's participants and locations varied greatly, making generalisability across South African contexts difficult. However, the studies shared a common aim, that is, to explore which positive constructs are relevant in a South African context. This seems to align with calls for more contextually relevant research in positive psychology (Wissing, 2022).

The three most investigated positive constructs in South African research were social support, motivation, and hope. Social support-broadly viewed as teacher support, parental/family support, peer support, and community support-was the most identified construct. This finding was not surprising. Research has consistently shown that, although internal resources or personal qualities such as perseverance, self-control, and hope are contributing factors to success, they only partially explain why some learners thrive and others do not (Allen et al., 2022; Ungar, 2018). The most meaningful sources of social support seem to be teachers who maintain emotionally supportive connections with learners; parents who take an authoritative approach with positive expectations and take an interest in a learner's schooling; peers who are encouraging, motivational, and accepting; and communities or families that valorise education and provide various resources such as homework support. These findings suggest that academic success is an outcome of the interplay between various systems within a learner's context, which work in combination to support academic progress.

Motivation was the second most researched construct. In line with Ryan and Deci's (2017) concept of intrinsic motivation, a love of learning and the inherent value of learning was recognised as the primary source of motivation in multiple studies (Adams et al., 2019; Hemson, 2018; Lethale & Pillay, 2013). Interestingly, in one of the studies (Grobler, 2014), motivation was also identified as a moral imperative to succeed and thus a source of extrinsic motivation. This is an important finding given the collectivist cultural values held by many South Africans, which may not have been given prominence in Western literature (Albien & Naidoo, 2018; Hendriks et al., 2019).

Hope was the third most researched positive construct, and it is closely linked to motivation. The presence of hope is vital in a South African "context of poverty and a culture of hopelessness" as described by participants in one of the identified studies (Naidoo & van Schalkwyk, 2021, p. 192). Hope entails future-mindedness and future orientation with an expectation that desired events and outcomes will occur. This future orientation is connected to feelings of confidence and positive expectations that galvanise goal-directed actions (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). In the identified studies from our review, academic success was strongly related to a positive expectation that present opportunities would lead to better outcomes for past and future generations. Given the ongoing legacy of apartheid, poverty, and marginalisation in South Africa (Dryden-Peterson & Robinson, 2023; Kim et al., 2023), the hope that academic success will change future circumstances may galvanise motivation for continued effort in academic work.

While we identified 25 constructs, it is important to note that they are not necessarily representative of all the contextually relevant constructs associated with academic success in South Africa. Rather, these were merely the only constructs investigated to date. This is possibly due to the dominance of quantitative studies that predetermined constructs for investigation as opposed to more exploratory approaches, as suggested in the third wave of positive psychology (Lomas et al., 2021). For example, literature shows that internationally, the construct of "appreciation of beauty and excellence" is one of the least researched and least understood character strengths (Hort, 2019). Overall, research identifying positive psychology constructs associated with academic success in South Africa requires more attention.

 

Conclusion and recommendations

This scoping review found that South African research on positive psychology constructs and academic success is emerging, however, the slow rate of research is concerning. Several recommendations flow from this review. First, it is recommended that, as a whole, a broader range of positive psychology constructs should be examined in association with academic success in South African secondary schools. These constructs should be explored taking context into consideration, including cultural traditions, practices, and history. For example, the nuances of intrinsic versus extrinsic academic motivation in a collectivist context, the significance of certain other-oriented character strengths versus more individualistic strengths, or the importance of specific positive emotions in achieving academic success. Second, social support seems to be essential to academic success. Thus, more in-depth research is needed regarding the nature and dynamics of social support that could be meaningful to learners. Finally, most positive constructs in this review were researched in isolation. Given the context of South Africa and the complex needs of learners, it is recommended that the interplay of multiple constructs be investigated within a bioecological or multisystemic framework.

We acknowledge that relevant research may have been omitted from this review due to the language selection, time period searched, university repositories omitted, and data sources searched. However, through identifying research gaps, we hope that the study may contribute towards further research and exploration on the topic.

 

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Received: 19 August 2023
Accepted: 1 June 2024