Iranian Journal of Educational Sociology 2645-3460 9 May 2026 2026 05 30 Predicting Academic Guidance of Secondary School Students Based on Cognitive–Emotional Factors Using a Structural Equation Modelling Approach Predicting Academic Guidance of Secondary School Students Based on Cognitive–Emotional Factors Using a Structural Equation Modelling Approach 1 16 10.61838/kman.ijes.1463 EN Journal Article 2026 01 01 <p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The present study aimed to predict the academic guidance of secondary school students based on cognitive and emotional factors using a structural equation modeling approach.</p> <p><strong>Methods and Materials: </strong>The present study employed a descriptive-correlational design using structural equation modeling. The statistical population consisted of all male and female lower secondary school students, with a total population of 3,806,310 students. Based on Cochran’s formula, 384 participants were selected through multistage cluster random sampling. To prevent sample attrition, 430 questionnaires were distributed, of which 395 were returned and 384 valid questionnaires were included in the final analysis. Data were collected using the Sternberg Intelligence Questionnaire (Sternberg, 2013), Towler and Dipboye Learning Styles Questionnaire (Towler &amp; Dipboye, 2003), Harter Motivation Scale (Harter, 1980), Pekrun et al.’s Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (Pekrun et al., 2002), and the Academic Guidance Questionnaire developed by Nazarinia et al. (Nazarinia et al., 2022). Data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 24 and SmartPLS version 4 software.</p> <p><strong>Findings:</strong> The findings indicated that both cognitive and emotional factors had direct and positive effects on the academic guidance of secondary school students. Cognitive factors significantly predicted academic guidance with a direct path coefficient of 0.682 and a significance value of 16.032, confirming the hypothesis at the 95% confidence level. Emotional factors also demonstrated a significant positive effect on academic guidance, with a direct path coefficient of 0.703 and a significance value of 18.137. Furthermore, the coefficient of determination revealed that cognitive and emotional factors jointly explained 57.9% of the variance in academic guidance.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings demonstrated that academic guidance is strongly influenced by students’ cognitive and emotional characteristics. Intelligence, learning styles, motivation, and achievement emotions collectively contribute to students’ educational decision-making and academic adaptation.</p> https://qijes.com/index.php/ijes/article/download/1463/1463