Structural Modeling of the Relationship Between Psychological Capital, Intrinsic Motivation, and Academic Flourishing Among Secondary School Students
Keywords:
Psychological capital, intrinsic motivation, academic flourishing, secondary school students, qualitative research, semi-structured interviews, NVivoAbstract
This study aimed to develop a qualitative structural model explaining the relationship between psychological capital, intrinsic motivation, and academic flourishing among secondary school students in Tehran. This qualitative study employed an interpretive, model-building design. Participants included 22 secondary school students from Tehran, selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation in gender, grade level, academic track, and school type. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Saturation occurred at the nineteenth interview, followed by three additional interviews to ensure data adequacy and confirm the stability of the emerging categories. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. Data analysis was conducted through open, axial, and selective coding, supported by constant comparison, memo writing, peer review, and participant validation. The analysis yielded five main categories: psychological capital as an internal resource for academic persistence, intrinsic motivation as a self-directed force for learning, academic flourishing as a multidimensional developmental outcome, school and family contexts as enabling or constraining conditions, and a process-based model linking psychological capital, intrinsic motivation, and academic flourishing. Students with higher levels of hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism described learning as more meaningful, showed greater persistence after academic setbacks, and reported stronger intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation emerged as a key mechanism through which psychological capital was translated into active learning engagement and academic flourishing. The findings suggest that academic flourishing is not merely the result of achievement or high grades; rather, it emerges from the dynamic interaction between psychological resources, intrinsic motivation, and supportive educational contexts. The proposed model indicates that psychological capital provides the internal foundation for academic growth, intrinsic motivation transforms this capacity into active learning behavior, and academic flourishing is manifested through meaning, progress, belonging, self-worth, and satisfaction with the learning process.
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