School grades and students’ emotions: Longitudinal models of within-person reciprocal effects

Based on control-value theory, we expected reciprocal associations between school grades and students' achievement emotions. Existing research has employed between-person designs to examine links between grades and emotions, but has failed to analyze their within-person relations. Reanalyzing data used by Pekrun et al. (2017) for between-person analysis, we investigated within-person relations of students’ grades and emotions in mathematics over 5 school years (N = 3,425 German students from the PALMA longitudinal study; 50.0% female). The findings from random-intercept cross-lagged modeling show that grades positively predicted positive emotions within persons over time. These emotions, in turn, positively predicted grades. Grades were negative predictors of negative emotions, and these emotions, in turn, were negative predictors of grades. The within-person effects were largely equivalent to between-person relations of grades and emotions. Implications for theory, future research, and educational practice are discussed.     

Measuring emotions in students’ learning and performance: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ)

Aside from test anxiety scales, measurement instruments assessing students’ achievement emotions are largely lacking. This article reports on the construction, reliability, internal validity, and external validity of the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) which is designed to assess various achievement emotions experienced by students in academic settings. The instrument contains 24 scales measuring enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom during class, while studying, and when taking tests and exams. Scale construction used a rational-empirical strategy based on Pekrun’s (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions and prior exploratory research. The instrument was tested in a study using a sample of university students (N = 389). Findings indicate that the scales are reliable, internally valid as demonstrated by confirmatory factor analysis, and externally valid in terms of relationships with students’ control-value appraisals, learning, and academic performance. The results provide further support for the control-value theory and help to elucidate the structure and role of emotions in educational settings. Directions for future research and implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Antecedents of academic emotions: Testing the internal/external frame of reference model for academic enjoyment

The present study focused on students’ academic enjoyment as predicted by achievement in multiple academic domains. Assumptions were based on Marsh’s internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model and Pekrun’s control-value theory of achievement emotions, and were tested in a sample of 1380 German students from grades 5 to 10. Students’ academic enjoyment, self-concept, and achievement were assessed in relation to mathematics and verbal language classes. In line with assumptions of the I/E model, mathematics performance assessed in the previous academic year positively predicted enjoyment in mathematics classes, and negatively predicted enjoyment in language classes. Language class performance positively predicted enjoyment in language classes, and negatively predicted enjoyment in mathematics classes. Corroborating assumptions derived from Pekrun’s control-value theory, achievement/enjoyment relations were mediated by academic self-concepts. Despite stereotypic gender differences in mean values, linkages between constructs were invariant across genders.     

Expectancy-value appraisals and achievement emotions in an online learning environment: Within- and between-person relationships

Motivation and emotion are of critical importance for students' academic learning and achievement. Drawing on Eccles and Wigfield's situated expectancy-value theory and Pekrun's control-value theory, we examined to what extent specific expectancy-value appraisals related to studentsʼ achievement emotions. We collected intensive state data of N = 95 university students over one semester in an online learning environment. Students' appraisals were analyzed on different aggregation levels in a hierarchical design, which accounts for variability within learning situations and between students. Our results corroborated theoretical assumptions that expectancy-value appraisals are positively associated with positive emotions and negatively with negative emotions. However, we found that students experienced positive emotions in learning situations of high intrinsic and utility value, but not in situations of high attainment value. Examining appraisal combinations and discrete emotions, we found that particularly studentsʼ perceived costs moderated the relationship between expectancy and frustration and boredom on the situation level.     

Students' emotions during homework: Structures,self-concept antecedents,and achievement outcomes

In the present study (N = 553; 8th and 11th grade students; 52% female) we investigated students' enjoyment, pride, anxiety, anger, and boredom while completing homework (homework emotions), and contrasted these emotions with those experienced during class (classroom emotions). Both homework emotions and classroom emotions were assessed separately for the domains of mathematics, physics, German, and English. Our hypotheses were based on propositions of the control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006), Marsh and Ayotte's (2003) differential distinctiveness hypothesis, and previous empirical findings. In line with our assumptions, observed correlations between homework emotions and classroom emotions suggested that the emotions experienced in the two settings should be assessed separately. Within domains, both homework emotions and classroom emotions showed clear linkages with students' academic self-concept and achievement outcomes, with self-concept being slightly more strongly related to classroom emotions. Between-domain relations of emotions were significantly stronger for homework emotions as compared to classroom emotions, likely due to the relative situational homogeneity of homework settings across domains. Further, between-domain relations for emotions in both settings were weaker in 11th grade students, whereas within-domain relations did not differ as a function of age. Implications for research and educational practice are discussed.     

Control-value appraisals,achievement emotions,and foreign language performance: A latent interaction analysis

Based on control-value theory (CVT), this study (N = 550 Chinese university students) examined relations between control-value appraisals, subsequent achievement emotions, and resulting performance in foreign language (FL) learning. The results show that perceived control and value related positively to positive emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride) and FL performance, and negatively to negative emotions (anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, boredom). Control and value interacted in predicting all eight emotions and FL performance. The multiplicative impact of the appraisals on performance was mediated by four of the focal emotions. These findings elucidate the impact of appraisals and emotions on achievement and support the generalizability of CVT to foreign language learning. Directions for future research and implications for education are discussed.     

Higher education students’ achievement emotions and their antecedents in e-learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country survey

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative consequences for higher education students. We explored the generalizability of the control-value theory of achievement emotions for e-learning, focusing on their antecedents. We involved 17019 higher education students from 13 countries, who completed an online survey during the first wave of the pandemic. A structural equation model revealed that proximal antecedents (e-learning self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy) mediated the relation between environmental antecedents (cognitive and motivational quality of the task) and positive and negative achievement emotions, with some exceptions. The model was invariant across country, area of study, and gender. The rates of achievement emotions varied according to these same factors. Beyond their theoretical relevance, these findings could be the basis for policy recommendations to support stakeholders in coping with the challenges of e-learning and the current and future sequelae of the pandemic.     

Measuring students' emotions in the early years: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Elementary School (AEQ-ES)

This article reports about the development and validation of a measurement instrument assessing elementary school students' achievement emotions (Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Elementary School, AEQ-ES). Specifically, the instrument assesses students' enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom pertaining to three types of academic settings (i.e., attending class, doing homework, and taking tests and exams). Scale construction was based on Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions. The instrument was tested using samples from German and American elementary school classrooms. The results of Study 1 (German sample) corroborate the reliability and structural validity of the new emotion measure. Moreover, they show that students' achievement emotions were linked with their control and value appraisals as well as their academic performance, thus supporting the external validity of the measure as well as propositions of Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions. Study 2 (American sample) corroborated the cross-cultural equivalence of the measure and the generalizability of findings across the German and American samples. Implications for research on achievement emotions and educational practice are discussed.     

Teachers' enthusiasm and humor and its' lagged relationships with students' enjoyment and boredom - A latent trait-state-approach

Following Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions, we investigated carry-over effects and cross-lagged relationships between student-perceived teacher enthusiasm and humor and students' enjoyment and boredom both within and between university lectures. We used a latent state-trait approach to acknowledge the role of situational factors in this relationship. Data were collected from 559 university students (76% female, mean age 21.6 years) from seven different lecture courses. We assessed students' self-reported emotions and student-perceived teacher enthusiasm and content-related humor over a period of four lectures at three random points during each lecture course. The analyses revealed that all variables were influenced by previous measures within lectures; however, between lectures, only previous enjoyment and humor influenced the subsequent measure. When students experienced boredom, they perceived less teacher enthusiasm and humor. On the other hand, perceived teacher humor positively affected enjoyment within lectures.     

Not that different in theory: Discussing the control-value theory of emotions in online learning environments

This commentary investigates the extent to which the control-value theory of emotions (Pekrun, 2006) is applicable in online learning environments. Four empirical studies in this special issue of The Internet and Higher Education explicitly used the control-value theory as their theoretical framework and several others have components of the theory implicitly described. Thus, for each article we examined what emotions were expressed, the antecedents of the emotions, and their academic outcomes in relation to the control-value theory of emotions. In general, the results from these studies parallel those in traditional classrooms, suggesting there are few differences in emotions experienced in online learning environments relative to face-to-face classrooms. A primary reason for the observed similarities in emotions may be that control and value appraisals play consistent roles as antecedents of specific emotions even though students’ learning environment is dramatically different. We conclude with suggestions for future research.     

Girls and mathematics —A “hopeless” issue? A control-value approach to gender differences in emotions towards mathematics

This study analyzed gender differences in achievement emotions in the domain of mathematics. Based on Pekrun’s (2000, 2006) controlvalue theory of achievement emotions, we hypothesized that there are gender differences in mathematics emotions due to the students’ different levels of control and value beliefs in mathematics, even when controlling for prior achievement. The structural relationships between prior achievement, control and value beliefs, and emotions were assumed to be invariant across girls and boys in spite of hypothesized mean level differences of beliefs and emotions across genders. The emotions and beliefs of 1,036 male and 1,017 female 5th grade students were assessed by self-report measures, and their prior mathematics achievement was assessed by academic grades. Even though girls and boys had received similar grades in mathematics, girls reported significantly less enjoyment and pride than boys, but more anxiety, hopelessness and shame. Findings suggested that the female emotional pattern was due to the girls’ low competence beliefs and domain value of mathematics, combined with their high subjective values of achievement in mathematics. Multiple-group comparisons confirmed that the structural relationships between variables were largely invariant across the genders.     

Examining the dynamics of mathematics anxiety,perceived cost,and achievement: A control-value theory approach

Concerns about the influence of students’ perceived negative consequences of engagement in a task (i.e., cost) on their emotions, motivation, and cognition have increased in the last decade. The use of longitudinal models is needed to provide new insights into the role of perceived cost in mathematics learning. Grounded in the control-value theory, this study examined cross-lagged relations of mathematics anxiety, perceived cost, and mathematics achievement. The participants (N = 335) reported their mathematics anxiety and perceived cost four times during Grades 7 and 8, and their mathematics grades were attained from their school records. Cross-lagged panel model analysis revealed evidence of a long-term positive reciprocal relationship between mathematics anxiety and effort/emotional cost, a gradually diminished relationship between effort/emotional cost and mathematics performance, and a positive achievement to anxiety link during the transition between grade levels. Moreover, mathematics performance is a distal predictor of mathematics anxiety through effort/emotional cost rather than a proximal predictor or an outcome of anxiety. This study also clarified the distinction in the central role of effort/emotional versus opportunity cost in the interrelatedness of mathematics anxiety and performance, where the latter failed to demonstrate significant paths. Specific timing for interventions was discerned. Early cost prevention interventions along with considerations of academic achievement to alleviate both anxiety and perceived effort/emotional are highlighted as crucial for a positive high school mathematics experience.     

A reciprocal model of achievement goals and learning related emotions in the first year of undergraduate study

The control-value theory of achievement emotions proposes a bidirectional relationship between learning-related emotions and achievement goals. Studies to date, however, have only provided evidence that achievement goals predict future learning-related emotions. In this study we examined the reciprocal relations between learning-related emotions and achievement goals in 434 undergraduate students in their first year of academic study. Data were collected in three waves: near the beginning of the first and second semesters of first year study and lastly near the beginning of the first semester of the second year. Reciprocal effects were found between mastery goals and both activity- and outcome-focused emotions, whereas reciprocal effects for performance goals were only shown with outcome focused emotions. These were not always present between both first and second, and between the second and third waves of measurement, which may be related to the first year undergraduate context. Our models also demonstrated stability in achievement goals and learning-related emotions between waves of measurement, which tended to be lower between the first and third points of data collection. These findings provide support for the relations between learning-related emotions and achievement goals proposed in control-value theory and that mastery goals are not solely related to activity-focused emotions.     

High self-control predicts more positive emotions, better engagement, and higher achievement in school

The control-value theory of academic emotions has emerged as a useful framework for studying the antecedents and consequences of different emotions in school. This framework focuses on the role of control-related and value-related appraisals as proximal antecedents of emotions. In this study, we take an individual differences approach to examine academic emotions and investigate how trait self-control is related to students’ experience of academic emotions. We posited a model wherein trait self-control predicted academic emotions which in turn predicted engagement and perceived academic achievement. Filipino university students answered relevant questionnaires. Results indicated that self-control positively predicted positive academic emotions (enjoyment, hope, and pride) and negatively predicted negative emotions (anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom). Academic emotions, in turn, had a significant impact on engagement, disaffection, and perceived achievement. Implications for exploring synergies between research on trait self-control and the control-value theory of academic emotions are discussed.     

How you think about your intelligence determines how you feel in school: The role of theories of intelligence on academic emotions

Research on implicit theories of intelligence and academic emotions have proceeded in parallel with little cross-over of ideas. This study aims to examine the potential synergies that may exist between these two strands of research by examining whether implicit theories of intelligence can function as a predictor of academic emotions when situated within Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions. Filipino secondary school students (N = 1147) participated in the study. Hierarchical regression analyses were employed to investigate the predictive effects of implicit theories of intelligence on academic emotions after controlling for the variance accounted for by demographic variables, social environmental factors, and achievement goals which have been identified as important antecedents in previous research. Results indicated that holding an entity theory of intelligence positively predicted negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom. However, it was not significantly related to the positive emotions of enjoyment, hope, and pride. The usefulness of these findings for integrating theorizing in the implicit theories of intelligence and academic emotions literature is discussed.     

The role of test hope and hopelessness in self-regulated learning: Relations between volitional strategies,cognitive appraisals and academic achievement

The aim of this study was to examine the relationships amongst students' test emotions of hope and hopelessness, their antecedents of cognitive control and value appraisals and volitional strategies during learning, as well as their effects on academic achievement in the domain of mathematics, using the control–value theoretical framework. Sample consisted of 365 Croatian high school students. Correlational and structural equation analysis substantiated the assumptions concerning the relationships between test emotions, cognitive appraisals, volitional strategies and academic achievement. The results showed that cognitive appraisals partially mediate the relationship between volitional strategies and test emotions, and, further, that hopelessness play a partially mediating role in the relationship between volitional strategies and academic achievement. These findings once again emphasise the complex dynamics of cognitive, emotional and behavioural components of a self-regulated learning process.     

How achievement emotions impact students' decisions for online learning,and what precedes those emotions

This empirical study investigates students' learning choices for mathematics and statistics in a blended learning environment, composed of both online and face-to-face learning components. The students (N = 730) were university freshmen with a strong diversity in prior schooling and a wide range of proficiency in quantitative subjects. In this context, we investigated the impact that individual differences in achievement emotions (enjoyment, anxiety, boredom, hopelessness) had on students' learning choices, in terms of the intensity of using the online learning mode versus the face-to-face mode. Unlike the general level of learning activities, which is only minimally influenced by achievement emotions, these emotions appear to have a moderately strong effect on a student's preference for online learning. Following this, we explored the antecedents of achievement emotions. Through the use of path-modeling, we conclude that while goal setting behavior only marginally impacts achievement emotions, effort views—a crucial component of the social-cognitive model of implicit theories of intelligence—have a substantial impact on achievement emotions.     

Student engagement with science in early adolescence: The contribution of enjoyment to students’ continuing interest in learning about science

Recent research has expanded understanding of the contribution of emotions to student engagement and achievement. Achievement emotions can be conceptualized as general ways of responding to achievement settings or specific emotional states aroused during a specific learning activity. Emotion processes can be distinguished as positive or negative, activating or deactivating. Using data from an international survey of science achievement (PISA 2006; N > 400,000 15-year-old students from 57 countries), relations between the positive, activating achievement emotion of enjoyment and a number of variables that combine with enjoyment to define students’ engagement with learning science are examined. Previously, we reported that enjoyment is central to relations between interest in science, value and knowledge, and students’ reported current and future engagement. The embedded attitudinal items from PISA 2006 allow testing of how enjoyment contributes to a more direct measure of engagement with science by assessing students’ interest in finding out more about the specific topics used to measure their science achievement. In this investigation, structural equation modeling is used to test predictions based on Hidi and Renninger’s (2006) four-phase model of interest development, and Pekrun’s (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions.     

Succeeding at junior high school: Students’ reasons,their reach,and the teaching that h(inders)elps their grasp

How do we support students through their difficult transition to secondary school? Perceived value for and perceived ability to be successful during secondary school are a crucial part of any answer to this question. These perceptions and their interaction with classroom instruction are at the heart of many issues students face in this challenging new learning environment. Seeking to address these issues head-on, the current study modelled the shared role of motivation (intrinsic/extrinsic) and self-efficacy beliefs within mathematics, native and foreign language achievement across first-year secondary school studies at six schools in Japan. Modelling included pre-post subject achievement and students' instructional experiences. Longitudinal latent structural equation modelling was undertaken for each of the subjects to examine the interplay between students' motivational and instructional experiences across one academic year. Findings support the shared role of intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy within achievement (βs = 0.1–0.24), and reciprocal relationships between perceptions of instruction and students’ motivations/beliefs (βs = 0.15–0.21). Results also suggest different patterns of motivation-belief and motivation/belief-instruction interconnections across the three subjects of study researched. The pervasive role of instructional experiences for students' motivation-beliefs (from teaching to self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation, βs = 0.14–0.21) highlight the powerful role of teachers in these critical environments. Implications for theory and practice arising from the results and the integrative model utilised are discussed.     

Is it good to value math? Investigating mothers’ impact on their children’s test anxiety based on control-value theory

The present study investigated individual and social antecedents of test anxiety. Based on Pekrun’s (2006) control-value theory of achievement emotions, we studied the relationship of students’ test anxiety with students’ control and value cognitions, the interaction of control and value cognitions, and parent-reported family valuing of mathematics. The sample consisted of 356 German 5th graders and their mothers. In line with theoretical assumptions, results of structural equation modeling showed that, when modeled together, control cognitions (i.e., academic self-concept) were negatively related to test anxiety while value cognitions (i.e., interest) showed a positive relationship. The significant interaction between control and value revealed that value was strongly related to test anxiety when subjective control was low and only weakly related to test anxiety when subjective control was high. High family values of mathematics were positively related to test anxiety. In addition, family values showed two indirect relations with test anxiety which were in opposite directions: Highly valuing math in families reduced students’ test anxiety by enhancing their control cognitions, and at the same time increased students’ test anxiety by enhancing students’ value cognitions. The overall indirect effect was a reduction in test anxiety, which shows that the anxiety-reducing effect via students’ control perceptions was stronger than the anxiety-enhancing effect via students’ value cognitions.