An evaluative message fosters mathematics performance in male students but decreases intrinsic motivation in female students

This study contrasted the effects of two task messages, evaluative or non-evaluative, on mathematics performance, affect, and intrinsic task motivation. One hundred-twenty secondary-school students aged 17–21 years were delivered one of the two messages, or assigned to a control condition, before completing a mathematics task, measures of message appraisals (challenge and threat), affect (pleasantness, arousal, dominance), and a behavioural indication of intrinsic task motivation. The evaluative message raised performance only in males, while for females both messages decreased intrinsic motivation for the task, probably due to stereotype threat. Implications for future research and educational practices are discussed.HIGHLIGHTS In a low-value context, an evaluative message favoured male mathematics performance Males increased arousal after an evaluative message A challenge appraisal was linked with male performance Females decreased intrinsic motivation after evaluative and non-evaluative messages

Twenty years of stereotype threat research: A review of psychological mediators

This systematic literature review appraises critically the mediating variables of stereotype threat. A bibliographic search was conducted across electronic databases between 1995 and 2015. The search identified 45 experiments from 38 articles and 17 unique proposed mediators that were categorized into affective/subjective (n = 6), cognitive (n = 7) and motivational mechanisms (n = 4). Empirical support was accrued for mediators such as anxiety, negative thinking, and mind-wandering, which are suggested to co-opt working memory resources under stereotype threat. Other research points to the assertion that stereotype threatened individuals may be motivated to disconfirm negative stereotypes, which can have a paradoxical effect of hampering performance. However, stereotype threat appears to affect diverse social groups in different ways, with no one mediator providing unequivocal empirical support. Underpinned by the multi-threat framework, the discussion postulates that different forms of stereotype threat may be mediated by distinct mechanisms

Che dire? Che fare?

Vengono presentate modalità operative per affrontare frequenti problemi motivazionali a scuol

Emotion Regulation and Need Satisfaction Favour a Motivating Teaching Style

Teachers whose basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness are satisfied tend to use a motivating teaching style characterized by the provision of autonomy and structure, whereas teachers whose needs are frustrated tend to use controlling or chaotic styles which are considered de-motivating. Given the importance of a supportive and motivating teaching style, it is crucial to better understand how it can be fostered and maintained. Since emotion regulation has been shown to affect both teachers' and students' well-being, this research tested the hypothesis that emotion regulation shapes the association between teachers’ need satisfaction or frustration and the adoption of (de)motivating styles. Two hundred and ninety teachers filled in questionnaires to assess need satisfaction and frustration, the emotion regulation strategies of reappraisal and suppression, and their teaching styles. The results confirmed the mediating role of reappraisal and the moderation of emotional suppression. Teachers' need satisfaction was linked with reappraisal, which in turn was related to the autonomy supportive and structuring motivating styles. High emotional suppression related with the adoption of a controlling style independently of need frustration levels. Only low levels of emotional suppression and need frustration lessened the adoption of a controlling style

Malleability beliefs shape mathematics-related achievement emotions: The mediating role of emotion regulation in primary school children

Along the primary school children show a decrease in enjoyment, while anxiety and boredom increase, leading to detrimental effects on performance and wellbeing. This suggests the need to deepen the knowledge of the factors linked with regulation of positive and negative affect. We hypothesized that the more children believe emotions are malleable, the higher is their tendency to regulate them and their enjoyment rather than anxiety or boredom in mathematics. Then, we expected emotions to be related to mathematics-related achievement. We involved 715 second and fourth-graders using self-report questionnaires and a standardized test to assess achievement. The beliefs in the malleability related to emotion regulation, which mediated the associations with achievement emotions; achievement emotions were linked to achievement and mediated the relation between emotion regulation and achievement. We highlight the importance to foster emotion regulation since the primary school, also though shaping the beliefs in the malleability of emotions