Achievement Goals as Antecedents of Students' Achievement Emotions: An Inter- and Intraindividual Approach Across Domains

• In Event: 66.023 - "What Is This Feeling?" The Wickedly Complex Workings of Achievement Emotions in Diverse Learning Situations

Abstract

This study examined the impact of achievement goals on students’ achievement emotions. Although existing theoretical models exclusively focus on intraindividual functioning, that is on within-person relations between goals and emotions (e.g., Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2002; Pekrun, Elliot, & Maier, 2009), the vast majority of empirical studies on this topic has examined between-person relations. However, as inter- and intraindividual relations are statistically independent from each other (Molenaar, 2004), running analyses at the interindividual level with the aim of testing assumptions on intraindividual functioning is short-sighted, if not problematic.

To overcome this disconnect between theory and empirical research, the present study analyzed both the inter- and intraindividual relations between goals from the trichotomous achievement goal framework (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance) and six commonly experienced achievement emotions (enjoyment, pride, anxiety, shame, anger, and boredom). The assumptions on the relationships between goals and emotions were based on the theoretical framework developed by Pekrun, Elliot, and Maier (2006, 2009). The sample consisted of 120 Swiss 10th grade students (37% female). To examine interindividual relations, trait achievement goals and emotions were assessed using self-report questionnaires. To examine intraindividual relations, state goals and emotions were assessed using the experience sampling method for a period of ten school days in a regular classroom setting (altogether 1779 real-time assessments). For both the trait and the state approach, data were assessed with respect to the four academic domains of mathematics, German, English, and French.

Preliminary analyses showed that the pattern of correlations between constructs differed for the inter- versus intraindividual analyses. For example, at the intraindividual level, performance approach and performance-avoidance goals could clearly be separated (r = .48), in contrast to their high correlation at the interindividual level (r = .86). Multilevel analyses on the state data (assessments nested within persons) showed that intraclass-correlations (ICCs) for achievement goals and achievement emotions were similar in magnitude ([.257; .332] for goals; ([.204; .325] for emotions). Thus, most of the variance in both constructs originates from situational fluctuations within persons. As for the main analyses, results of multiple regressions and multi-level modeling showed that interindividual relations were completely in line with the theoretical assumptions. Most importantly, the intraindividual relations mapped exactly onto the interindividual pattern of results: Mastery goals were positive predictors of enjoyment and negative predictors of boredom and anger; performance-approach goals were positive predictors of pride; and performance-avoidance goals were positive predictors of anxiety and shame. Results of the inter- and intraindividual analyses were robust when controlling for gender, age, academic achievement, and the academic domain in which goals and emotions were assessed.

Strategies for integrating inter- and intraindividual paradigms in research on achievement goals and emotions are discussed. Furthermore, implications for educational practice are outlined. Knowledge of intraindividual functioning is a prerequisite for developing intervention programs (Voelkle, Brose, Schmiedek, & Lindenberger, 2014). Thus, the present study can contribute to the development of emotionally sound learning environments that aim to foster students’ learning behavior and their psychological and intellectual growth.

Authors

• Thomas Goetz, University of Konstanz

• Fabio Sticca

• Reinhard Pekrun, University of Essex

• Kou Murayama, University of Reading

• Andrew J. Elliot, University of Rochester