Wang Fang, Pan Xiaoquan
Xingzhi College, Zhejiang Normal University, 688 Yingbin Road, Jinhua, 321004, China.
Sci Rep. 2025 May 29;15(1):18770. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-03894-9.
Episodic future thinking has become an emerging area of psychological research in recent years as an important factor in predicting learning behavioral engagement. Despite previous research has confirmed that episodic future thinking has a significant correlation with individuals' behavior, the exploration of the association between episodic future thinking and learning engagement in conjunction with both internal factors (e.g. motivation) and external factors (e.g. teacher support) has been left unspecified. Informed by previous research, this study constructed a hypothesized model to explore the association between episodic future thinking and learning engagement, and to examine the roles of intrinsic motivation and teacher support. A questionnaire was administered to 361 undergraduates at a comprehensive university in Eastern China using the scales of Episodic Future Thinking, Learning Engagement, Intrinsic Motivation, and Teacher Support. The research results showed that episodic future thinking positively predicted learning engagement (β = 0.318, t = 3.635, P < 0.001). Intrinsic motivation was the mediating variable of the association between episodic future thinking and learning engagement (β = 0.484, SE = 0.077, CI [0.332, 0.634]) with a mediation effect size of 0.603. Teacher support moderated the relationship between intrinsic motivation and learning engagement (β = 0.292, t = 3.218, P < 0.001). The findings of this study suggest that undergraduates' episodic future thinking is positively associated with learning engagement through intrinsic motivation, and teacher support plays a moderating role in this process. Based on the findings, this study proposed to give full play to the role of episodic future thinking in the learning process of undergraduates by making positive interventions to stimulate learners' positive mental states and enhance learning engagement, and to construct an internal and external psychological regulation mechanism of intrinsic motivation and teacher support. This study contributes to revealing the psychological driving force behind students' learning behaviors and providing more targeted guidance for educational practice.
近年来，情景式未来思维作为预测学习行为参与度的一个重要因素，已成为心理学研究的一个新兴领域。尽管先前的研究已经证实情景式未来思维与个体行为存在显著相关性，但对于情景式未来思维与学习参与度之间的关联，结合内部因素（如动机）和外部因素（如教师支持）进行的探索仍不明确。基于先前的研究成果，本研究构建了一个假设模型，以探究情景式未来思维与学习参与度之间的关联，并检验内在动机和教师支持所起的作用。使用情景式未来思维、学习参与度、内在动机和教师支持量表，对中国东部一所综合性大学的361名本科生进行了问卷调查。研究结果表明，情景式未来思维对学习参与度具有正向预测作用（β = 0.318，t = 3.635, P < 0.001）。内在动机是情景式未来思维与学习参与度之间关联的中介变量（β = 0.484，SE = 0.077，CI [0.332, 0.634]），中介效应大小为0.603。教师支持调节了内在动机与学习参与度之间的关系（β = 0.292，t = 3.218, P < 0.001）。本研究结果表明，本科生的情景式未来思维通过内在动机与学习参与度呈正相关，且教师支持在此过程中起调节作用。基于这些发现，本研究建议通过积极干预来充分发挥情景式未来思维在本科生学习过程中的作用，以激发学习者的积极心理状态并提高学习参与度，并构建内在动机和教师支持的内外心理调节机制。本研究有助于揭示学生学习行为背后的心理驱动力，并为教育实践提供更具针对性的指导。
