The influence of gratitude on learning engagement among adolescents: The multiple mediating effects of teachers' emotional support and students’ basic psychological needs

ABSTRACT Introduction Gratitude, a positive response to receiving a benefit, may aid adolescents' development by fostering a general sense of connectedness to others as well as a motivation to use one's strengths to broadly contribute to others. Previous studies have emphasized that gratitude is a powerful factor for learning engagement; however, the underlying mechanism that mediates this relationship remains unclear. To fill this gap, the current study aimed to explore the multiple mediating effects of students' perceived emotional support from their teachers (hereafter “teachers' emotional support”) and students' basic psychological needs (hereafter “basic psychological needs”) on the association between gratitude and learning engagement among Chinese adolescents. Methods A total of 688 Chinese junior middle school students (336 boys and 352 girls; mean age = 13.1, SD = 1.2) completed the Gratitude Questionnaire, Teachers’ Emotional Support Questionnaire, Basic Need Satisfaction Scale, and Learning Engagement Scale. Results Path analysis showed that gratitude positively predicted learning engagement; the mediating roles of teachers' emotional support and basic psychological needs in the association between gratitude and learning engagement were significant. There were three mediating paths: gratitude affected learning engagement through the mediating role of teachers' emotional support; basic psychological needs; and the serial mediating role of teachers’ emotional support and basic psychological needs. Conclusions These findings suggest that schools should pay more attention to improving teachers' emotional support to adolescents and meeting students’ basic psychological needs, which would enhance the positive impact of gratitude on learning engagement.