The exploration of the relationship between positive achievement emotions and academic success: testing the assumptions of the control-value theory of achievement emotions

ABSTRACT

Objective: The main purpose of this study was to examine the assumptions of the control-value theory of achievement emotions in the explanation of the relationship between positive achievement emotions and academic success.

Method: The study was conducted among 513 high school students (341 female) from two high schools in Zagreb, Croatia. Participants’ academic control, positive class- and learning-related achievement emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride), elaboration and rehearsal as learning strategies, and academic success were assessed in the research.

Results: Results showed that academic control directly and indirectly predicted academic success. Indirect paths via class-related enjoyment and elaboration, class-related pride and elaboration, and elaboration alone were significant, while in the context of learning-related emotions only the indirect path via learning-related pride was significant. These results suggest that learning strategies represent weak mediators in the relationship between class-related emotions and academic success. However, they are not mediators in the relationship between learning-related emotions and academic success, which is not in line with the theoretical assumptions.

Conclusion: The study showed some beneficial effects of positive achievement emotions for academic outcomes and therefore pointed to their importance in the academic setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Positive achievement emotions
• learning strategies
• academic success
• academic control

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical standards

The authors assert that all procedures contributing to this work comply with the ethical standards of the relevant national and institutional committees on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

This manuscript is an original work that has not been submitted to nor published anywhere else.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.