Effect of Levels of Self-Regulation and Situational Stress on Achievement Emotions in Undergraduate Students: Class, Study and Testing

Abstract

Achievement emotions constitute one important variable among the many variables of students’ learning. The aim of this research was to analyze the differential effect of university students’ levels of self-regulation (1 = low, 2 = medium and 3 = high), and of their level of perceived stress in three academic situations (1 = class, 2 = study time and 3 = testing), on the type of achievement emotionality they experience (positive and negative emotions). The following hypotheses were established: (1) a higher level of student self-regulation would be accompanied by higher levels of positive emotionality and lower levels of negative emotionality and (2) a higher level of situational stress would predispose higher levels of negative emotionality and lower levels of positive emotionality. A total of 520 university students completed three self-reports with validated inventories. Descriptive, correlational, and structural prediction analyses (SEM) were performed, as well as 3 × 3 ANOVAs, under an ex post facto design by selection. The results showed overall fulfillment of the hypotheses, except for a few specific emotions. Implications for prevention and psychoeducational guidance in the sphere of university education are discussed.

Differential Effects of Self- vs. External-Regulation on Learning Approaches, Academic Achievement, and Satisfaction in Undergraduate Students

“…First, there are two important implications for research in this topic . On the one hand, these consistent and recurring results (some of them reported previously in this Research Topic) indicate the value of analyzing the student’s level of regulation and the level of regulatory teaching in combination, for determining hypothetical levels of cognitive variables, emotional variables, coping and the emotional states of engagement-burnout at university ( de la Fuente et al, 2017 , 2019b , 2020a , b ). These results thus provide empirical support to SRL vs. ERL Theory ( de la Fuente, 2017 ) as a theoretical model for molar analysis, and position the model as a complementary view and a step forward from the SRL model ( Zimmerman and Schunk, 2001 ), taking a more molecular view of analyzing university students’ learning.…”

“…In psychology research on health and academic well-being, SR has been considered a variable at the molecular level ( de la Fuente et al, 2019a ). It is predictive of various specific regulatory behaviors, such as coping strategies ( de la Fuente et al, 2019b ) or achievement emotions ( de la Fuente et al, 2020b , c ). In the realm of educational psychology, it has been conceptualized as a meta-behavioral, student variable (presage), predictive of Self-Regulated Learning (process variable), achievement and academic satisfaction (product variables).…”

“…Consequently, a heuristic with five possible combination ranks has been put forward (see Table 1 ). This heuristic of combinations has been successfully evaluated in reference to the effect of its regulation levels on university students’ achievement emotions ( de la Fuente et al, 2019b ) and their coping strategies ( de la Fuente et al, 2020b ). However, its effect on learning approaches, satisfaction and achievement has yet to be reported, and this is the aim of the present research study.…”

Key Teacher Attitudes for Sustainable Development of Student Employability by Social Cognitive Career Theory: The Mediating Roles of Self-Efficacy and Problem-Based Learning

“…Because TL, PBL, and SE were unidimensional constructs, we followed the procedure recommended by Little et al (2002) to create two parcels of randomly selected items to serve as indicators for these variables. Structural validity analysis was performed using the IBM-AMOS statistical program, v. 23.0 (New York, NY, USA) for Windows; this program was also used to construct the structural prediction model, specifically, verification of the structural linear prediction hypothesis (path analysis; de la Fuente et al, 2020 ).…”

Cross-Sectional Study of Resilience, Positivity and Coping Strategies as Predictors of Engagement-Burnout in Undergraduate Students: Implications for Prevention and Treatment in Mental Well-Being

“…The problem of academic stress in the University context and the demands of therapeutic response in this context has had great relevance in recent times. Numerous recent investigations have analyzed mental health prevention strategies in young University students, in order to minimize the psychological effects of this situation ( 1 , 2 ). To do this, they have focused their interest on the role of resilience and well-being.…”