A Preliminary Study on the Development and Validation of an Academic Buoyancy Instrument for Final Year Students
Main Article Content
Abstract
Undertaking an undergraduate thesis is a demanding academic phase frequently accompanied by stress and anxiety, underscoring the importance of academic buoyancy, the capacity to deal with everyday academic setbacks. This preliminary study aimed to develop an academic buoyancy instrument for final-year students based on the 5C framework (confidence, coordination, control, composure, and commitment) and to conduct an initial psychometric evaluation through expert judgment, item-total correlation analysis, and internal consistency estimation. Following Azwar's scale development stages, an initial pool of 25 Likert-type items was reviewed by two experts; Content validity was rated highly feasible (subject expert 96%, language expert 86%; mean 91%). The instrument was administered to 104 students writing or about to write their theses. Item-total correlations ranged from 0.103 to 0.495; 24 items met the criteria (p < 0.05) and one item (i3) was removed. The final 24 item set yielded a Cronbach's alpha of 0.742, adequate for an early stage instrument and a basis for further validation rather than high-stakes individual decisions.
Downloads
Article Details
Issue
Section

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Copyright on any article is retained by the author(s).
- The author grants the journal, the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
- The article and any associated published material is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
How to Cite
References
Azwar, S. (2012). Compilation of psychological scales (Edition 2). Yogyakarta: Student Library.
Barry, K. M., Woods, M., Warnecke, E., Stirling, C., & Martin, A. J. (2018). Psychological health of doctoral candidates: A systematic review. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, 9(2), 189-212.
Bisschop, J. (2007). Reliability methods and standards. Microelectronics Reliability, 47(9-11), 1330-1335.
Chen, M., Liu, S., Wijaya, T. T., & Cao, Y. (2025). Influence of family socioeconomic status on academic buoyancy and adaptability: Mediating effect of parental involvement. Acta psychologica, 253, 104753.
Chen, S., & Zhang, L.-F. (2025). Academic buoyancy and self-regulated learning among doctoral students: The mediating roles of creativity-generating research styles. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 58, 101900.
Collie, R. J., Holliman, A. J., & Martin, A. J. (2017). Adaptability, engagement and academic achievement at university. Educational Psychology, 37(5), 632-647.
Cornér, S., Löfström, E., & Pyhältö, K. (2017). The relationship between doctoral students' perceptions of supervision and burnout. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 12, 91-106.
Dang, A. H., & Middlemiss, W. (2025). Academic buoyancy and fear of failure differences among university students. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 11, 101184.
Gao, F. (2025). Academic buoyancy and achievement among EFL learners: The mediating roles of hope and enjoyment. Acta Psychologica, 260, 105595.
Lu, Y., Li, F., Gao, C., Zhu, X., & Lian, L. (2025). Enhancing student satisfaction through academic buoyancy and flow experience. Acta Psychologica, 256, 104983.
Martin, A. J., & Marsh, H. W. (2008). Academic buoyancy: Towards an understanding of students' everyday academic resilience. Journal of School Psychology, 46(1), 53-83.
Martin, A. J., Colmar, S. H., Davey, L. A., & Marsh, H. W. (2010). Longitudinal modelling of academic buoyancy and motivation. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(3), 473-496.
Martin, A. J., Ginns, P., Brackett, M. A., Malmberg, L. E., & Hall, J. (2013). Academic buoyancy and psychological risk: Exploring reciprocal relationships. Learning and Individual Differences, 27, 128-133.
Namaziandost, E., & Çelik, B. (2025). Academic buoyancy, engagement, and achievement. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1357421.
Peluso, D. L., Carleton, R. N., & Asmundson, G. J. (2011). Depression symptoms in Canadian psychology graduate students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 43(2), 119-127.
Retnawati, H. (2016). Quantitative analysis of research instruments. Yogyakarta: Parama Publishing.
Setiana, S., Taufik, A., Rusmana, N., & Nurihsan, J. (2023). Development and validation of student social adjustment instruments. GUIDENA, 13(4), 1089-1100.
Sitompul, M. R. (2021). Reliability and validity of construct academic buoyancy in Indonesia. Humanities, 5(3), 389-397.
Soysa, C. K., & Wilcomb, C. J. (2015). Mindfulness, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and gender as predictors of well-being. Mindfulness, 6(2), 217-226.
Sverdlik, A., Hall, N. C., McAlpine, L., & Hubbard, K. (2018). The PhD experience: A review of the factors influencing doctoral students' completion, achievement, and well-being. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 13, 361-388.
Yau, O. K. T., Martin, A. J., Ginns, P., & Collie, R. J. (2025). Gender differences in academic buoyancy: A meta-analysis. Learning and Individual Differences, 121, 102700.