Experiencing fear appeals as a challenge or a threat influences attainment value and academic self-efficacy

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Fear appeals are persuasive messages that highlight the negative consequences of a particular course of action. Studies have shown that attainment value and academic self-efficacy predict how fear appeals are appraised. In this study we examined how the appraisal of fear appeals might also influence subsequent attainment value and academic self-efficacy. Self-report data were collected from 1433 students in their final two years of secondary education over three waves. Findings revealed that when students saw fear appeals as a challenge attainment value and academic self-efficacy were higher. When students saw fear appeals as a threat, attainment value and academic self-efficacy were lower. These results highlight the functional importance of how fear appeals are appraised. Challenge and threat appraisals were not mere by products of attainment value or academic self-efficacy but impacted on attainment value and academic self-efficacy; variables that are likely to make a critical impact on educational progress and attainment. We conclude that initial teacher education and teacher professional development programs would benefit from enhanced interpersonal and relational-skills training to enable teachers to judge more effectively how fear appeals are appraised

Socio-economic status, gender and achievement: The mediating role of expectancy and subjective task value

Expectancy-Value Theory predicts that expectancy of success and subjective task value (STV) underlie differences in motivation and achievement. This study investigated how gender and SES related to achievement mediated by expectancy of success, STV, and their interaction. The sample consisted of 396 participants in their final year of upper secondary education. Self-report measures were completed of expectancy, STV, gender and socio-economic indicators. These were linked to exit examination grades (A Levels). Only parental education was directly related to achievement however gender and SES were indirectly linked to student grades through expectancy, STV, and the expectancy-STV interaction. Males, students with a higher level of parental education, and students from households with a higher number of possessions, all performed better in their examination due to higher expectations; higher STV amplified these relations. Gender and SES differences in achievement can be partly explained by psychological factors, namely students’ expectations of success and STV

Relations between gender stereotyping and foreign language attainment:The mediating role of language learners’ anxiety and self‐efficacy

BackgroundGender stereotyping of academic domains has long been a major issue in education. However, previous research has mainly focused on male-dominated fields and women’s disadvantage in such fields. Little attention has been paid to the fields of study, such as foreign language learning, which are typically stereotyped as female domains.AimsThis study aimed to investigate whether relations between (1) learners’ gender stereotypes about English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and language attainment and (2) learner perceptions of teacher stereotypes of EFL learning and language attainment were mediated by anxiety and self-efficacy.SampleData were collected from 701 university students (Mage = 19.7 years, 49.4% male) learning EFL in three Turkish universities.MethodData were collected over three waves. Multi-group structural equation modelling approach was used to analyse the data.ResultsResults showed the relations between learners’ gender stereotypes about EFL learning, and language attainment were mediated by self-efficacy. Self-efficacy also mediated the relationship between learner perceptions of teacher stereotypes of EFL learning and language attainment, but only for women. Language anxiety was not a mediator between gender stereotypes and attainment in either model tested.ConclusionsFindings show that gender stereotypes about EFL learning might affect learners’ language attainment by altering their self-efficacy. Helping learners to maximise their self-efficacy will therefore be beneficial for their language attainment

Socio-economic status, gender and achievement: the mediating role of expectancy and subjective task value

Expectancy-Value Theory predicts that expectancy of success and subjective task value (STV) underlie differences in motivation and achievement. This study investigated how gender and SES related to achievement mediated by expectancy of success, STV, and their interaction. The sample consisted of 396 participants in their final year of upper secondary education. Self-report measures were completed of expectancy, STV, gender and socio-economic indicators. These were linked to exit examination grades (A Levels). Only parental education was directly related to achievement however gender and SES were indirectly linked to student grades through expectancy, STV, and the expectancy-STV interaction. Males, students with a higher level of parental education, and students from households with a higher number of possessions, all performed better in their examination due to higher expectations; higher STV amplified these relations. Gender and SES differences in achievement can be partly explained by psychological factors, namely students’ expectations of success and STV

Achievement emotions and academic achievement: Reciprocal relations and the moderating influence of academic buoyancy.

Control-value theory proposes that achievement emotions impact achievement, and that achievement outcomes (i.e., success and failure) reciprocally influence the development of achievement emotions. Academic buoyancy is an adaptive response to minor academic adversity, and might, therefore, offer protection from achievement being undermined by negative achievement emotions. At present, however, there is little empirical evidence for these hypothesized relations. In this study we examined reciprocal relations between three achievement emotions (enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety) and test performance in the context of mathematics, and whether academic buoyancy moderated relations between these emotions and test performance. Data were collected from 1,242 primary school students (mean age = 9.3 years) over 4 waves within 1 school year. Achievement emotions (T₁ and T₃) and test performance (T₂ and T₄) were measured alternately. Academic buoyancy was measured at T₃. A structural equation model showed negative relations of anxiety to subsequent test performance and negative relations of test performance to subsequent anxiety. Test performance also predicted enjoyment and boredom, but not vice versa. A latent-interaction structural equation model showed buoyancy moderated relations between anxiety and test performance. Test performance was highest when anxiety was low and buoyancy high. Practitioners should consider using interventions to reduce anxiety and downstream effects on achievement

Teachers’ theories of intelligence and instruction in English secondary education

This paper explores the relationship of teachers’ intelligence beliefs and classroom instruction, in-particular teachers’ use of intelligence language. According to Dweck’s (1999) theory of intelligence, individuals can hold intelligence beliefs on a continuum from an entity theory, where intelligence is fixed, through to an incremental theory, with intelligence understood as malleable. Some research demonstrates congruence between teachers’ beliefs and practice; for example, teacher intelligence beliefs and praise language (Lin-Siegler, Dweck & Cohen, 2016). Other findings, however, report incongruence between the belief-practice relationship, such as intelligence beliefs and use of challenge (Rissanen, Kuusisto, Hanhimäki & Tirri, 2018a). Consequently, this study aims to further understand teachers’ belief-practice relationship in the classroom. Pilot data were collected through mixed-methods, consisting of Dweck’s (1999) intelligence theory questionnaire, video-recorded observations, and semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings indicate that the belief-practice relationship is both congruent and incongruent; as teachers’ intelligence beliefs are not always enacted during instruction. Rather, intelligence belief and practice may be mediated by other personal beliefs and contextual factors, such as pre-determined target grades, class sets (low, mid, high), beliefs about students and student behaviour; however additional evidence is required

The role of achievement emotions in primary school mathematics: Control–value antecedents and achievement outcomes

Background Appraisals of control and value are proposed as proximal antecedents of achievement emotions, which, in turn, predict achievement. Relatively few studies have investigated how control and value may interact to determine achievement emotions, or subsequent achievement mediated by emotions. Aim To examine whether control, value, and their interaction predicted mathematics test score directly, and indirectly, mediated by three salient achievement emotions: enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety. Method Data were collected from 1,298 primary schoolchildren. Participants completed self-report measures of control, value (i.e., intrinsic, attainment, and utility), and achievement emotions (i.e., enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety), in the context of mathematics. Participants then undertook a curriculum-based mathematics test in class. Results Higher control and value were related to a higher mathematics test score directly, and indirectly, mediated via higher enjoyment and lower anxiety. The interaction of control and intrinsic value predicted mathematics test score directly, and indirectly, mediated via enjoyment. Conclusion Intrinsic value amplified the direct positive relation between control and mathematics test score. Intrinsic value also protected mathematics test scores at lower levels of control indirectly, through higher enjoyment. Helping students to maximize control and value will be beneficial for their learning experience and outcomes

COVID-19 Meets Control-Value Theory: Emotional Reactions to Canceled High-Stakes Examinations

In many countries, examinations scheduled for summer 2020 were canceled as part of measures designed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine how four retrospective emotions about canceled examinations (relief, gratitude, disappointment, and anger) and one prospective emotion (test anxiety) were related to control-value appraisals, a sample of 474 participants in the UK aged 15-19 years, who would have taken high-stakes examinations if they had not been canceled, self-reported measures of control, value, retrospective emotions and test anxiety. Data were analysed using the confirmatory factor analysis within exploratory structural equation modeling (EwC) approach. Relief, gratitude, and anger were predicted from expectancy × value interactions. Disappointment was related to expectancy only. Test anxiety was predicted independently by expectancy and positive/negative value. Findings offer broad support for Control-Value Theory and show how the appraisals underpinning achievement emotions can differ when focused on canceled examinations rather than success or failure

Expectancy of success, subjective task-value, and message frame in the appraisal of value-promoting messages made prior to a high-stakes examination

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht Previous research has examined how subjective task-value and expectancy of success influence the appraisal of value-promoting messages used by teachers prior to high-stakes examinations. The aim of this study was to examine whether message-frame (gain or loss-framed messages) also influences the appraisal of value-promoting messages. Two hundred and fifty-two participants in Years 12 and 13 read vignettes of fictional students who were high or low in subjective-task value, and expectancy of success, and asked to imagine how that student would appraise either a gain or loss-framed message. A challenge appraisal followed vignettes with high subjective task-value and high expectancy of success whereas a threat appraisal followed vignettes with high subjective task-value and low expectancy of success. A loss-framed message resulted in a stronger threat appraisal, and a gain-framed message in a greater disregarding appraisal for the vignette with high subjective task-value and high expectancy of success. Value-promoting messages can be appraised in different ways depending on combinations of intrapersonal (subjective task-value and expectancy of success) and interpersonal (message-frame) influences. © 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrech