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Positive Emotions Predict Students’ Well-Being and Academic Motivation: The Broaden-and-Build Approach

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The Psychology of Asian Learners

Abstract

Fredrickson’s (1998) broaden-and-build theory argues that positive emotions can facilitate the building up of important psychological resources. However, this theory has seldom been tested in an educational context. This paper aims to examine how positive and negative emotions predict students’ well-being (i.e., levels of life satisfaction, happiness, and depressive symptoms) and academic motivation (i.e., controlled and autonomous motivation) which are considered as key psychological resources in the school context. A sample of secondary students from Singapore (N = 134) answered surveys assessing their emotions, motivation, and well-being. Hierarchical regression analyses results revealed that positive and negative emotions were differentially associated with well-being. Results also showed that positive emotions positively predicted both controlled motivation (i.e., identified regulation and intrinsic motivation) and autonomous motivation (i.e., external regulation and introjected regulation). This was particularly interesting from a cross-cultural perspective because external regulation and introjected regulation have been found to be maladaptive among Western students. However, these types of motivation may not necessarily be harmful in collectivist contexts. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Learning Sciences Lab, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Michelle Low

  2. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SAR, P.R. China

    Ronnel B. King

  3. Centre for Research in Pedagogy and Practice, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Imelda S. Caleon

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  1. Michelle Low
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  2. Ronnel B. King
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  3. Imelda S. Caleon
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Correspondence to Michelle Low .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Ronnel B. King

  2. Department of Psychology Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China

    Allan B. I. Bernardo

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Low, M., King, R.B., Caleon, I.S. (2016). Positive Emotions Predict Students’ Well-Being and Academic Motivation: The Broaden-and-Build Approach. In: King, R., Bernardo, A. (eds) The Psychology of Asian Learners. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-576-1_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-576-1_30

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