Sociocultural Influences on Students' Emotions: Perspectives From Control-Value Theory

• In Event: Part 2 – Recent Advancement in Sociocultural Influences on Motivation and Learning: Big Theories Revisited

Abstract

Purpose: In this presentation, the control-value theory of achievement emotions (CVT; Pekrun, 2006; Pekrun & Perry, 2013, 2014) is reviewed, with a specific focus on theoretical implications and empirical evidence for the influence of gender and socio-cultural contexts on students’ achievement emotions.

Theoretical framework: CVT explains individual antecedents and outcomes of achievement emotions as well as social antecedents and the role of the broader socio-cultural context. Basic propositions of the theory target individual appraisals as proximal antecedents. Specifically, the theory posits that achievement emotions are triggered by appraisals of control over, and the value of, achievement activities and their outcomes. Different types and combinations of control and value appraisals are thought to prompt different emotions. Given that appraisals are considered proximal antecedents, more distal individual and social factors are thought to influence students’ emotion by shaping their appraisals. In line with general principles of social-cognitive theory, the proposed role of appraisals implies that the influence of these distal factors is mediated by students’ control and value appraisals, and that any individual and social factors shaping students’ appraisals also influence their emotions. The implications for the influence of (a) students’ gender; (b) social environments in classroom and family (including cognitive, motivational, and emotional features of these environments; achievement goal structures and social expectations; as well as feedback on, and consequences of, achievement); and (c) the broader cultural and historical context, are reviewed.

Modes of inquiry and results: In exemplary way, the evidence supporting the role of control and value appraisals for the arousal and development of achievement emotions is summarized. This includes correlational, longitudinal, and experimental findings. Both main and interactive effects of appraisal will be addressed (e.g., recent studies using longitudinal latent interaction analysis). Subsequently, studies that examined the role of gender, social environments, and culture (across North American, European, and East Asian countries) are reviewed. The presentation will specifically focus on recent research that used longitudinal multi-level modeling to examine the compositional effects of class-average achievement on students’ emotions in mathematics. In three studies (Ns=1,610, 1,759, and 4,353), we found that being in a high-achieving class reduces students’ emotional well-being in math (i.e., reduces positive emotions and exacerbates negative emotions) due to negative effects of class-level achievement on students’ control-related appraisals. Individual achievement, autoregressive effects, and reciprocal effects of emotions on achievement were controlled in this research.

Scholarly significance: CVT implies that the appraisals driving students’ emotions are shaped by socio-cultural contexts, and the evidence supports this claim. More specifically, the theory and related evidence suggest that the basic mechanisms linking students’ appraisals and emotions are universal across genders, environments, and cultures. However, the theory also posits, and the available evidence confirms, that the contents, objects, frequency, and intensity of students’ emotions differ widely as a function of social influences. As such, while acknowledging the universality of basic mechanisms, emotion theory and related educational practice need to consider the uniqueness of emotions in different genders, social environments, and socio-cultural as well as historical contexts.

Author

• Reinhard Pekrun, University of Essex