Appraisals for Achievement Emotions When Receiving Constructive Criticism on Writing

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

Abstract

Receiving performance feedback, a ubiquitous activity in achievement settings, is likely to arouse a variety of emotions (Pekrun et al., 2014). Typically understood as feedback that provides a path towards one’s improvement, constructive criticism is particularly felicitous at highlighting the interplay of appraisals and emotions. The criticism component may elicit shame, anger, and hopelessness, whereas the constructive component, with its positively supportive language, may lead to pride and enjoyment. As for theories of emotions, control-value theory (Pekrun, 2006) assumes that the development and regulation of achievement emotions depend on various factors, including achievement antecedents, such as past feedback and outcomes, and cognitive appraisals regarding one’s sense of value and control. Our study explored the various appraisals for different achievement emotions college students provided when asked to imagine receiving constructive criticism on an academic task. Although research has examined the influence of self-reported control and value on achievement emotions (e.g., Pekrun et al., 2010), little empirical work has explored the particular content of appraisals made by students leading to particular emotions. Our objective was to examine these appraisals as the link between constructive feedback and the emotions elicited upon receiving the feedback.

Participants were 270 undergraduate students (68% women) from a large public southwestern university. Students completed an online questionnaire with open-ended questions after imagining receiving constructive criticism on a writing assignment. A sample item was “Explain why you might feel a sense of ANGER in response to receiving this constructive criticism…” We assessed nine achievement emotions: Anger, hopelessness, shame, boredom, anxiety, enjoyment, hope, pride, and relief. Using constant comparison techniques, we coded students’ responses, first working individually with the same 25 data entries to identify emergent categories and then meeting to reach consensus on the categories. All data were re-coded.

Analyzing the most prevalent student-reported appraisals, we found many reasons for why they would feel a particular emotion when receiving constructive criticism (see Table 1). Receiving constructive criticism may elicit retrospective outcome emotions (appraised as resulting from signals of both success and failure), activity emotions (experienced in the moment of receiving feedback), and prospective outcome emotions (in anticipation of the steps needed to correct one’s performance). Second, students provided appraisals mostly dealing with control, in that they explained how their sense of competence or future success in writing was the cause of their emotional experiences. For example, feelings of pride, enjoyment, hope, and relief came from appraisals of feedback providing a path to improvement and including praise. Third, we found it interesting that some students reported not being able to imagine feeling shame, boredom, or pride when receiving constructive criticism, and nearly all of them reported an explanation for feeling enjoyment, relief, and hope.

This study expands the literature on achievement emotions with a novel analysis of students’ appraisals. Using a qualitative lens, we describe underlying judgments that precede the experience of emotions when receiving constructive criticism. Implications obtain for how instructors can facilitate appraisal-oriented regulation for their students to foster adaptive attributions for academic success and failure.

Authors

• Carlton Jing Fong, The University of Texas - Austin

• Diane L. Schallert, The University of Texas - Austin

• Kyle M. Williams, The University of Texas at Austin

• Jayce R. Warner, The University of Texas - Austin

• Zachary H. Williamson, The University of Texas - Austin

• Shengjie Lin, The University of Texas - Austin

• Ling-Hui Chen, Saint Edward's University