ABSTRACT
Empirical development on the psychological process of optimization is in its early stages. Our research focus in this theoretical orientation involves the collection of data from multiple cultures, namely, Australia, Malaysia, China, and Taiwan. Consonant with the scope of this edited text, we discuss in this book chapter an important line of inquiry: The potential positive effects of four proposed optimizing agents (i.e., personal resolve, pathways and means, effective functioning, and the social milieu) on personal learning and achievement-related outcomes (e.g., personal self-efficacy beliefs, mastery-approach goals). The evidence that we obtained, based on causal modeling, analyzes of Taiwanese students’ responses, provides empirical support, and highlights several key patterns in the operational nature of the four proposed optimizing agents. For example, positive influences were found between the proposed optimizing agents, with the exception of the social milieu, on different adaptive outcomes (e.g., personal resolve → academic achievement, pathways and means → personal self-efficacy). Aside from the research advancement into the process of optimal functioning, the empirical study reported in this book chapter has also provided support and insight into the motivational patterns of Taiwanese students. This discussion, in line with existing research (e.g., Ngu & Phan, 2016; Ngu, Phan, Hong, & Hasbee, 2016), is insightful for the purpose of cross-cultural comparison and understanding into motivational and learning patterns of Asian students in general. For example, in our recent studies, we argued that philosophical ethos, customary practices, and cultural values all combined to account and explain why Asian students, in general, outperform Australian students in the area of mathematics.
