Do teacher-training college students become more engaged in their studies because of commitment? The mediating role of self-control and the moderating role of core self-evaluation

• Published in: Frontiers in psychology Vol. 16; p. 1569871
• Main Author: Li, Chen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 22.07.2025
• Subjects: college students; core self-evaluation; learning engagement; professional commitment; Psychology; self-control; teacher education; core self-evaluation; learning engagement; self-control; professional commitment; teacher education; college students
• ISSN: 1664-1078; 1664-1078
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1569871

As prospective educators, teacher candidates' learning engagement and development require significant attention. This study aims to investigate the mechanism of the role between professional commitment and learning engagement of teacher-training college students. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 846 randomly sampled teacher-training college students using four validated scales: the , the , the , and the . The study employed descriptive statistics and structural equation modeling to validate the proposed measurement model and analyze the interconnections between the variables under investigation. The results showed that (1) Different dimensions of professional commitment have significant effects on self-control; (2) Both the impulse and control systems of self-control significantly affect learning engagement; (3) The impulsive system and control system of self-control mediate the different dimensions of professional commitment; (4) The effect of the impulse system and control system of self-control on learning engagement is moderated by core self-evaluation. The study's results reveal the mechanism of different dimensions of professional commitment's influence on learning engagement, particularly the roles of self-control (including both impulsive and control systems) and the core self-evaluation. These findings provided valuable insights for designing intervention to enhance learning engagement among teacher education students.