The Academic Threat Appraisal Ratio Scale (ATARS): Insights into attainment, academic progression, and retention in higher education

Cassidy, Simon

Abstract

Background: Previous studies examining threat appraisal and the influence of stress on human performance conclude that a challenge state leads to better performance than a threat state. Despite its potential, threat appraisal, particularly using self‐report measures, has been the subject of limited investigation in applied higher educational contexts.

Aims: The study explored the potential of self‐report academic threat appraisal to explain academic progression and drop out in first‐year students and investigated associations between self‐report academic threat appraisal and relevant non‐cognitive factors. Sample: The sample comprised 186 first‐year undergraduate university students.

Method: Students completed a newly adapted self‐report threat appraisal measure, the Academic Threat Appraisal Ratio Scale (ATARS), at the beginning of their degree course. End‐of‐year grade point average and academic progression were also measured along with self‐report measures of academic self‐efficacy, academic resilience, grit, and mindset.

Results: Findings revealed that a significantly greater proportion of students eliciting a challenge state progressed at first attempt, and of those students failing to progress at first attempt, a significantly greater proportion had elicited a threat state (χ2 (1) = 4.445, p = .035). Furthermore, academic threat appraisal was identified as a significant predictor of academic progression, while academic self‐efficacy was identified as a significant predictor of academic threat appraisal.

Conclusions: Evidence supports self‐report academic threat appraisal as a significant factor in student attainment and academic progression in higher education, suggesting that the ATARS offers a relatively simple, valid, and scalable tool for early screening of students, enabling targeted student support.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 16, 2025
• Online Publication Date: May 3, 2025
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: May 15, 2025
• Journal: British Journal of Educational Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0007-0998
• Electronic ISSN: 2044-8279
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12780
• Keywords: higher education, retention, challenge‐threat, attainment, threat appraisal, academic progression