Meaning in life and psychological wellbeing as predictors of academic self-efficacy in Peruvian university students

Introduction Academic self-efficacy is a robust predictor of educational attainment, yet its existential and positive-psychology antecedents remain under-examined, particularly in Latin America. This study examined the role of meaning in life (presence and search) and psychological wellbeing as statistical predictors of academic self-efficacy in Peruvian university students. Methods A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional design was used with 606 Peruvian university students ( M age = 21.38, SD = 3.09; 58.7% male). Structural equation modeling with item parceling (balanced serpentine assignment) and robust maximum likelihood estimation (MLR; Yuan-Bentler scaled test statistic and Huber-White robust standard errors) was applied. Results The model showed good fit (CFI = 0.976, TLI = 0.963, RMSEA = 0.065 [90% CI: 0.051–0.079], SRMR = 0.031, GFI = 0.967). Within the specified model, psychological wellbeing was the strongest statistical predictor of academic self-efficacy (β = 0.638, p < 0.001), followed by the presence of meaning (β = 0.171, p = 0.021); the search for meaning was not a significant unique predictor (β = 0.031, p = 0.397). The model accounted for 61.9% of the variance in academic self-efficacy (R 2 = 0.619), and this pattern was robust to the parceling procedure. Discussion These findings highlight the relevance of both psychological wellbeing and the perception of existential meaning for the perceived academic competence of university students, and offer hypotheses for the design of psychoeducational support to be tested in longitudinal and experimental research.