Understanding the role of stress, personality and coping on learning motivation and mental health in university students during a pandemic

The aims explored the associations between stress, personality and coping on student mental health and compared defensive-pessimism and optimism as influences on learning motivation. Most research construes ‘stress’ as ‘distress’, with little attempt to measure the stress that enhances motivation and wellbeing. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 162) were surveyed on student and pandemic-related stressors, personality, support, control, mental health and learning motivation. Overall, adverse mental health was high and the lack of motivation acute. While positive ratings of teaching and optimistic thinking were associated with good mental health, context control was key. Adverse ratings of teaching quality lowered learning motivation. Support and conscientiousness bolstered learning motivation and conscientiousness buffered against the adverse impact of stress on motivation. Openness was associated with the stress involved in learning. For those anxious-prone, defensive-pessimism was as effective as optimism was in stimulating learning motivation. Developing context control, support and strategies linked to personality could bolster student resilience during and post Covid-19.