Commonalities and differences in strategies for regulating motivation and emotion in academic settings: a within-person approach

  • Background Motivation and emotion form important pillars of students’ educational experiences and, while representing distinguishable constructs, are closely intertwined. Consequently, it can be assumed that their regulation may be governed by similar mechanisms as well. From a theoretical perspective, MR and ER strategy taxonomies do contain overlap, particularly among strategies involving reappraisals of personal competencies, but also unique (i.e., non-overlapping) strategies. Empirically, however, motivational regulation (MR) and emotion regulation (ER) have had little intersection in prior research and stem from rather disconnected research traditions. Aims Building on previous work on the functional interplay between students’ motivation and emotion, we examined similarities and differences in MR and ER strategies and tested the assumption that MR strategies are also used to regulate emotions, and ER strategies to regulate motivation, in study situations. Sample ParticipantsBackground Motivation and emotion form important pillars of students’ educational experiences and, while representing distinguishable constructs, are closely intertwined. Consequently, it can be assumed that their regulation may be governed by similar mechanisms as well. From a theoretical perspective, MR and ER strategy taxonomies do contain overlap, particularly among strategies involving reappraisals of personal competencies, but also unique (i.e., non-overlapping) strategies. Empirically, however, motivational regulation (MR) and emotion regulation (ER) have had little intersection in prior research and stem from rather disconnected research traditions. Aims Building on previous work on the functional interplay between students’ motivation and emotion, we examined similarities and differences in MR and ER strategies and tested the assumption that MR strategies are also used to regulate emotions, and ER strategies to regulate motivation, in study situations. Sample Participants were 1,466 university students. Method Using a within-person design, students reported on their use of various strategies for managing regulatory problems involving either low motivation or negative emotions (anxiety, boredom). Results Using CFA and latent difference modeling, we found that strategy use was strongly correlated and differed little in terms of mean levels across motivational and emotional regulation problems. These correlations were even stronger, and mean differences smaller, than those found for regulatory problem distinctions within motivational and emotional problems. Conclusions The findings indicate that many designated MR and ER strategies as distinguished in current taxonomies may be relevant for managing both motivational and emotional problems and underscore the need for joint theoretical perspectives on MR and ER.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Kristina StockingerORCiDGND, Ulrike E. NettORCiDGND, Markus DreselORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-1113795
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/111379
ISSN:0959-4752OPAC
Parent Title (English):Learning and Instruction
Publisher:Elsevier
Place of publication:Amsterdam
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2025
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2024/02/21
Volume:95
First Page:102009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.102009
Institutes:Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Empirische Bildungsforschung
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Psychologie
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Empirische Bildungsforschung / Juniorprofessur für Empirische Bildungsforschung
Philosophisch-Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Psychologie / Lehrstuhl für Psychologie
Dewey Decimal Classification:1 Philosophie und Psychologie / 15 Psychologie / 150 Psychologie
Licence (German):CC-BY 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung (mit Print on Demand)