UNIVERSITIES

The purpose of this study was to examine select sociocognitive, environmental, and cultural factors that may relate to African students ’ academic satisfaction. The Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) satisfaction model (Lent, 2004) was used as a framework to test the predictive utility of these factors with students of African descent. The study also examined self-construal as a predictor of academic satisfaction. Self-construal is the way one’s thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are guided by one’s relationship to self and others (Markus & Kitayama, 1991). The present study revealed that the factors of the satisfaction model accounted for 59 % of the variance in academic satisfaction in the African sample. The findings also suggested that self-construal does not influence academic satisfaction directly but rather operates through mediated pathways. Research and practical implications of the findings are discussed