Examining the relationships among basic psychological needs, grit subcomponents, and academic self-efficacy in Vietnamese foreign language learners: A PLS-SEM
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Abstract
This study examines the relationships among subcomponents of Basic Psychological Needs (BPN), grit, and academic self-efficacy in Vietnamese foreign language learners within a collectivist cultural context. Data were collected from 372 English major students at two universities in Vietnam and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.1 software. The findings reveal that perseverance of effort significantly predicts academic self-efficacy (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) and is positively influenced by all three BPN components: autonomy (β = 0.147, p = 0.047), competence (β = 0.287, p = 0.001), and relatedness (β = 0.352, p = 0.001). Unexpectedly, consistency of interest shows a significant negative relationship with both relatedness (β = -0.273, p = 0.032) and academic self-efficacy (β = -0.271, p = 0.005), while being positively associated with competence (β = 0.348, p = 0.002). These counterintuitive findings are explained through the lens of Self-Determination Theory and Vietnamese collectivist culture, where social harmony and extrinsic motivation may outweigh consistency in personal interests. This research contributes to the literature by demonstrating that grit subcomponents function differently in collectivist settings and that BPN satisfaction plays a differentiated role in fostering perseverance versus consistency. Practically, the findings suggest that educators in Vietnam should prioritize building students' sense of competence and relatedness to enhance perseverance, while recognizing that interest flexibility may be culturally adaptive rather than detrimental to academic self-efficacy.
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