Abstract

There are number of theoretical orientations, which may account and explain students’ learning and performance
outcomes in various domains of functioning. Triarchic relations between three major theoretical orientations
were proposed and explored in this study. In their sequencing of predictive effects, these included: personal
self-efficacy, school belonging, and academic disengagement. The proposition, in this case, stipulated both
personal self-efficacy and academic disengagement as antecedent and consequence of belonging, respectively.
These three variables are also conceptualized, centrally, between prior learning experience and future
performance in mathematics. Two hundred and ninety 12th grade students (152 boys and 138 girls) participated
in this study. Self-rating responses of Likert-scale inventories (e.g., MSLQ) were analysed using structural
equation modelling procedures. Structural analyses yielded some significant evidence, notably the impact of both
personal self-efficacy beliefs and a sense of belonging on academic performance in mathematics. A positive
sense of belonging to school also relates inversely to academic disengagement. Finally, consistent with
Bandura’s (1986, 1997) social cognitive theory, personal self-efficacy is central to the relation between enactive
learning experience and academic performance.

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