Cognitive Appraisal Processes, Achievement Emotions and Academic Engagement: A Mediating Analysis

This study examined the mediating role of positive and negative achievement emotions in the relationship between cognitive appraisals and academic engagement among girl students. A sample of 200 students completed the Achievement Emotion Questionnaire-Revised (AEQ-R; Pekrun, Goetz & Perry, 2005), the Stress Appraisal Measure-Revised (SAM-R; Rowley, Roesch, Jurica & Vaughn, 2005) and the Schoolwork Engagement Inventory (SEI; Salmela-Aro & Upadaya, 2012). Structural equation modeling was used to assess the structural relations among achievement emotions, cognitive appraisals, and academic engagement. The results indicated that 1) the adaptive cognitive appraisals related positively and significantly to positive achievement emotions, 2) the adaptive cognitive appraisals related negatively and significantly to negative achievement emotions, 3) the nonadaptive cognitive appraisals related negatively and significantly to positive achievement emotions , 4) the nonadaptive cognitive appraisals related positively and significantly to negative achievement emotions and, 5) the positive achievement emotions related positively and significantly to academic engagement and finally 6) the negative achievement emotions related negatively and significantly to academic engagement. The results also indicated that the positive and negative achievement emotions fully mediated the relation between the adaptive and non-adaptive cognitive appraisals and academic engagement and this model had a good fitness. All of the regression weights in the both models were significant and the mediating models of positive and negative achievement emotions, accounted for 49% and 26% of the variances in academic engagement, respectively. The findings provided further support for the control-value theory of achievement emotions among Iranian students.