Affect/Emotion Regulation Strategies

Affective self-regulation refers to the control of short- and long-term emotional states related to the pupils’ aspiration level, their hope-for-success and fear-of-failure, their persistence and epistemic resilience and their readiness to tune themselves to different task-affordances (Snow, 1994).

Students use a wide range of affect regulation strategies . Studying involves all kind of emotions such as anticipation, hopelessness, anxiety, enjoyment, boredom, pride and disappointment. These emotions can influence both motivational and volitional processes, thereby inhibiting or promoting successful goal outcomes (McCann and Garcia, 1999; Hembree, 1988; Pekrun, 1992; Volet, 1997). The strategies managing the affective aspects of a task can indicate students’ efforts to control potentially debilitating states of worry or anxiety (see Corno, 1993). These strategies include, for example, telling yourself to calm down, focusing on your breathing to calm down, relaxation exercises, reminding yourself of things that make you feel good, or simply strategies to change the boring work to fun.

The affect regulation strategies found in this study can be divided into four sub-categories (see Table 6.4.1 and Tables 6.4.4.1 to 6.4.4.4).

Table 6.4.4.1 illustrates some ‘studying can be fun’ strategies. Student A needs to entertain himself time to time, otherwise he looses his concentration on the task.

Student B makes studying more interesting by drawing pictures in books. Student

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C finds studying more pleasant if he listens music at the same time and student D likes to eat at the same time. Comfortable clothes are needed for student E, while Student F nicely summarises the main idea of this category: if the study situation/material/task is enjoyable, much harder work ensues.

Table 6.4.4.1. Affect/emotion regulation strategies: studying can be fun

A) I have to entertain myself a bit when revising, or else I will loose my concentration.

B) I make studying fun ( for example, by drawing in my books) C) It is more fun to study when you listen to music at the same time D) If I eat something nice at the same time, studying feels more fun E) I change into comfortable clothes

F) I work much harder for the subjects I enjoy, however

Many people are familiar with the deadline-syndrome nothing gets done until the last minute. Some students need to have a clear deadlines, or heavy stress with the fear of the negative outcomes, before they can find enough motivation to start working. In Table 6.4.4.2 Student A states that he sometimes has difficulties getting going: he has to have some pressure before he is able to learn. He learns only through fear! Similarly Student B evokes the urgency of the situation to be sure that he is able to study.

Table 6.4.4.2. Affect/emotion regulation strategies: learning by fear

A) Sometimes it just does not happen and I make things more interesting. If there is sufficient or too much pressure present, I learn out of fear

B) If I get scared I make sure that I feel the urgency of the situation. I find that I can work better if there is a set deadline and I’m under pressure

According to Corno and Kanfer (1993) students can use different relaxation strategies to neutralise an overemphasis on negative states during the goal-striving process and thereby foster a focus on task-relevant concerns. Some students reported using self-instruction strategies (see Section 6.4.6 below) to control their

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emotional balance. With relaxation strategies students have a clear goal to calm themselves down

Table 6.4.4.3. Affect/emotion regulation strategies: relaxation

I first relax by watching TV or doing something else before studying I make a cup of coffee, drink it, and then get to work

Before I start working, I eat well and listen to music I relax in the bath, and read at the same time

by watching television, listening to music, drinking a cup of coffee or taking a bath before starting the study session.

The general definition of test anxiety is ‘an unpleasant feeling or emotional state that has psychological and behavioural concomitants and that is experienced in formal testing or other evaluative situations’ (Dusek, 1980). The cognitive component (worry) of test anxiety refers to the thoughts that accompany anxiety, such as working about the test, thinking about the consequences of failing etc (see Pintrich and Schunk, 1996). The emotional component refers to the actual physiological and emotional arousal that individuals experience as they take a test.

This arousal can become a classically conditioned affective reaction to evaluation situations (see Wigfield and Eggles, 1989; Pintrich and Schunk, 1996). Most people do feel some anxiety when put in a performance situation. For the test anxious students, the anxiety becomes overwhelming and it interferes with their ability to perform a task they have mastered in another situation (see Pintrich and Schunk, 1996).

Test anxiety, which taps into students concern over taking examinations, was also measured by the MSLQ questionnaire in the quantitative part of this study. The results were clear test anxiety is closely related to high extrinsic goal orientation.

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Empirical research on the negative effects of anxiety on performance is extensive.

Hembree (1988) found that test anxiety causes poor performance, is negatively related to self-esteem, and is directly related to students’ defensiveness and fear of negative evaluation.

Table 6.4.4.4 gives an example of test anxiety: Student A declares that for her exams are the dark side of the studying, because she is normally nervous in test situations. She is aware of her weakness and is probably able to prepare herself in a constructive way for examinations.

Table 6.4.4.4. Affect/emotion regulation strategies: test anxiety

A) Exams are the downside of learning, as I get very nervous.