Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Antecedents and Consequences of Emotion Regulation in STEM Degree Programs

  • Published:
Innovative Higher Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There to date exists limited research on how emotion regulation shapes students’ emotional experiences and academic development in higher education. The purpose of this study was to address this gap by examining how students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) degree programs (N = 174) use emotion regulation strategies related to their achievement emotions, approaches to learning, and exam performance. Data was collected across four phases pertaining to a required STEM course at the beginning of the semester, while studying for a midterm exam, and within 48 h following the exam. Results suggested that while emotion regulation while studying did not predict students’ emotions more than control and value appraisals, their emotion regulation specific to the exam predicted their emotions above and beyond control and value appraisals. Findings also showed cognitive reappraisal to correspond with more positive emotions, less negative emotions, more complex approaches to learning, and better exam performance. Conversely, suppression was associated with poorer exam performance. Results additionally showed that associations between cognitive reappraisal and emotions were stronger during exams than while studying. Overall, these findings indicate that how post-secondary students choose to regulate their emotions in STEM degree programs has important implications for how they feel, learn, and perform.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

Anonymized study data is available upon request.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Agarwal, N. K. (2011). Verifying survey items for construct validity: A two-stage sorting procedure for questionnaire design in information behavior research. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 48(1), 1–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, W., Minnaert, A., van der Werf, G., & Kuyper, H. (2010). The role of competence and value beliefs in students’ daily emotional experiences: A multilevel test of a transactional model. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(5), 507–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2010.03.005

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed, W., van der Werf, G., Kuyper, H., & Minnaert, A. (2013). Emotions, self-regulated learning, and achievement in mathematics: A growth curve analysis. Journal of Educational Psychology, 105(1), 150–161. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0030160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aldao, A. (2013). The future of emotion regulation research: Capturing context. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 8(2), 155–172.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Artino, A. R., & Jones, K. D. (2012). Exploring the complex relations between achievement emotions and self-regulated learning behaviors in online learning. The Internet and Higher Education, 15(3), 170–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banda, R. M. (2020). From the inside looking out: Latinas intersectionality and their engineering departments. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 33(8), 824–839. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1735565

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardeen, J. R., & Daniel, T. A. (2017). An eye-tracking examination of emotion regulation, attentional bias, and pupillary response to threat stimuli. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 41(6), 853–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Eliyahu, A., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (2013). Extending self-regulated learning to include self-regulated emotion strategies. Motivation and Emotion, 37(3), 558–573. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-012-9332-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Eliyahu, A., & Linnenbrink-Garcia, L. (2015). Integrating the regulation of affect, behavior, and cognition into self-regulated learning paradigms among secondary and post-secondary students. Metacognition and Learning, 10(1), 15–42. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11409-014-9129-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bieg, M., Goetz, T., & Hubbard, K. (2013). Can I master it and does it matter? An intraindividual analysis on control–value antecedents of trait and state academic emotions. Learning and Individual Differences, 28, 102–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2013.09.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blackburn, H. (2017). The status of women in STEM in higher education: A review of the literature 2007–2017. Science & Technology Libraries, 36(3), 235–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2017.1371658

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brady, S. T., Hard, B. M., & Gross, J. J. (2018). Reappraising test anxiety increases academic performance of first-year college students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 110(3), 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brans, K., Koval, P., Verduyn, P., Lim, Y. L., & Kuppens, P. (2013). The regulation of negative and positive affect in daily life. Emotion, 13(5), 926.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burić, I., & Sorić, I. (2012). The role of test hope and hopelessness in self-regulated learning: Relations between volitional strategies, cognitive appraisals and academic achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(4), 523–529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.03.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burić, I., Sorić, I., & Penezić, Z. (2016). Emotion regulation in academic domain: Development and validation of the academic emotion regulation questionnaire (AERQ). Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.02.074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, X. (2013). STEM attrition: College students' paths into and out of STEM Fields. Statistical analysis report. NCES 2014–001. National Center for Education Statistics.

  • Davis, H. A., DiStefano, C., & Schutz, P. A. (2008). Identifying patterns of appraising tests in first-year college students: Implications for anxiety and emotion regulation during test taking. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(4), 942–960. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013096

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egloff, B., Schmukle, S. C., Burns, L. R., & Schwerdtfeger, A. (2006). Spontaneous emotion regulation during evaluated speaking tasks: Associations with negative affect, anxiety expression, memory, and physiological responding. Emotion, 6(3), 356–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frenzel, A. C., Thrash, T. M., Pekrun, R., & Goetz, T. (2007). Achievement emotions in Germany and China: A cross-cultural validation of the academic emotions questionnaire-mathematics. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 38(3), 302–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gasiewski, J. A., Eagan, M. K., Garcia, G. A., Hurtado, S., & Chang, M. J. (2012). From gatekeeping to engagement: A multicontextual, mixed method study of student academic engagement in introductory STEM courses. Research in Higher Education, 53(2), 229–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-011-9247-y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray, E. K., & Watson, D. (2002). General and specific traits of personality and their relation to sleep and academic performance. Journal of Personality, 70(2), 177–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. (2015a). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840x.2014.940781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J. (2015b). The extended process model of emotion regulation: Elaborations, applications, and future directions. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840x.2015.989751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, N. C., Sampasivam, L., Muis, K. R., & Ranellucci, J. (2016). Achievement goals and emotions: The mediational roles of perceived progress, control, and value. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 86(2), 313–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Handelsman, J., Ebert-May, D., Beichner, R., Bruns, P., Chang, A., DeHaan, R., et al. (2004). Policy forum: Scientific teaching. Science, 304(5670), 521–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis. A regression-based approach. Guilford.

  • Hayes, J. P., Morey, R. A., Petty, C. M., Seth, S., Smoski, M. J., McCarthy, G., & LaBar, K. S. (2010). Staying cool when things get hot: Emotion regulation modulates neural mechanisms of memory encoding. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 4, 230.

  • Holland, D. G. (2019). The struggle to belong and thrive. In E. Seymour & A.-B. Hunter (Eds.), Talking about leaving revisited: Persistence, relocation, and loss in undergraduate STEM education (pp. 277–327). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25304-2_9

  • Hunter, A.-B. (2019). Why undergraduates leave STEM majors: Changes over the last two decades. In E. Seymour & A.-B. Hunter (Eds.), Talking about leaving revisited: Persistence, relocation, and loss in undergraduate STEM education (pp. 87–114). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25304-2_3

  • Hyde, M. S., & Gess-Newsome, J. (1999). Adjusting educational practice to increase female persistence in the sciences. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 1(4), 335–355. https://doi.org/10.2190/8WV7-UWY2-A1G9-7U3Y

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, S. E., & Gross, J. J. (2014). Emotion regulation in education: Conceptual foundations, current applications, and future directions. In R. Pekrun & L. Linnenbrink-Garcia (Eds.), International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 183–201). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamieson, J. P., Mendes, W. B., Blackstock, E., & Schmader, T. (2010). Turning the knots in your stomach into bows: Reappraising arousal improves performance on the GRE. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46(1), 208–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.08.015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrell, A., Lajoie, S., Harley, J. M., & Naismith, L. (2017). Success, failure and emotions: Examining the relationship between performance feedback and emotions in diagnostic reasoning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 65(5), 1263–1284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jarrell, A., & Lajoie, S. P. (2017). The regulation of achievements emotions: Implications for research and practice. Canadian Psychology. Psychologie Canadienne., 58(3), 276–287. https://doi.org/10.1037/cap0000119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, J. K., & Wood, W. B. (2005). Teaching more by lecturing less. Cell Biology Education, 4(4), 298–310. https://doi.org/10.1187/05-06-0082

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larcombe, W., Finch, S., Sore, R., Murray, C. M., Kentish, S., Mulder, R. A., Lee-Stecum, P., Baik, C., Tokatlidis, O., & Williams, D. A. (2016). Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological distress among students at an Australian university. Studies in Higher Education, 41(6), 1074–1091. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.966072

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leroy, V., Grégoire, J., Magen, E., Gross, J. J., & Mikolajczak, M. (2012). Resisting the sirens of temptation while studying: Using reappraisal to increase focus, enthusiasm, and performance. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(2), 263–268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.10.003

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukes, L. A., & McConnell, D. A. (2014). What motivates introductory geology students to study for an exam? Journal of Geoscience Education, 62(4), 725–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynn, P. (2009). Methodology of longitudinal surveys. Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meyers, L. S., Gamst, G., & Guarino, A. J. (2016). Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Sage.

  • Moneta, G. B., & Spada, M. M. (2009). Coping as a mediator of the relationships between trait intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and approaches to studying during academic exam preparation. Personality and Individual Differences, 46(5–6), 664–669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Naismith, L. M., & Lajoie, S. P. (2017). Motivation and emotion predict medical students attention to computer-based feedback. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 1–21.

  • Noftle, E. E., & Robins, R. W. (2007). Personality predictors of academic outcomes: Big five correlates of GPA and SAT scores. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(1), 116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opitz, P. C., Cavanagh, S. R., & Urry, H. L. (2015). Uninstructed emotion regulation choice in four studies of cognitive reappraisal. Personality and Individual Differences Personality and Individual Differences, 86(2), 455–464.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Park, C. L., Williams, M., Hernandez, P., Agocha, V. B., Carney, L. M., DePetris, A., & Lee, S. Y. (2019). Self-regulation and STEM persistence in minority and non-minority students across the first year of college. Social Psychology of Education : An International Journal, 22(1), 91–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-018-9465-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R. (2006). The control-value theory of achievement emotions: Assumptions, corollaries, and implications for educational research and practice. Educational Psychology Review, 18(4), 315–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-006-9029-9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R. (2016). Using Self-Report to Assess Emotions in Education. In M. Zembylas & P. A. Schutz (Eds.), Methodological Advances in Research on Emotion and Education (pp. 43–54). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

  • Pekrun, R., Elliot, A. J., & Maier, M. A. (2009). Achievement goals and achievement emotions: Testing a model of their joint relations with academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(1), 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Frenzel, A. C., Barchfeld, P., & Perry, R. P. (2011). Measuring emotions in students’ learning and performance: The achievement emotions questionnaire (AEQ). Contemporary Educational Psychology, 36(1), 36–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.10.002

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R., Goetz, T., Titz, W., & Perry, R. P. (2002). Academic emotions in students’ self-regulated learning and achievement: A program of qualitative and quantitative research. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 91–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R., & Perry, R. P. (2014). Control-value theory of achievement emotions. In R. Pekrun & L. Linnenbrink-Garcia (Eds.), International handbook of emotions in education (pp. 120–141). Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pekrun, R., & Stephens, E. J. (2009). Goals, emotions, and emotion regulation: Perspectives of the control-value theory. Human Development, 52(6), 357–365. https://doi.org/10.1159/000242349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pelch, M. (2018). Gendered differences in academic emotions and their implications for student success in STEM. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0130-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R., Smith, D. A. F., Garcia, T., & McKeachie, W. J. (1991). A manual for the use of the motivated strategies for learning questionnaire (MSLQ). University of Michigan, National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning.

  • Raccanello, D., Brondino, M., Crane, M., & Pasini, M. (2016). Antecedents of achievement emotions: Mixed-device assessment with Italian and Australian University students. In M. Caporuscio, F. De la Prieta, T. Di Mascio, R. Gennari, J. Gutiérrez Rodríguez, P. Vittorini (Eds.) Methodologies and intelligent systems for technology enhanced learning (pp. 183–191). Springer.

  • Ranellucci, J., Hall, N. C., & Goetz, T. (2015). Achievement goals, emotions, learning, and performance: A process model. Motivation Science, 1(2), 98–120. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000014

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray, R. D., McRae, K., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2010). Cognitive reappraisal of negative affect: Converging evidence from EMG and self-report. Emotion, 10(4), 587.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richards, J. M., & Gross, J. J. (2000). The cognitive costs of keeping one’s cool. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 410–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scherer, K. R. (2005). What are emotions? And how can they be measured? Social Science Information, 44(4), 695–729. https://doi.org/10.1177/0539018405058216

  • Simon, R. A., Aulls, M. W., Hubbard, K., Hall, N. C., & Dedic, H. (2015). Exploring student persistence in STEM programs: A motivational model. Canadian Journal of Education, 38(1), 1–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Statistics Canada. (2020). Persistence and graduation of undergraduate degree students, within the STEM/BHASE (non-STEM) grouping and province or territory of first enrolment, by student characteristics, new entrants of 2011/2012 to 2016/2017 (Table number 37-10-0145-03). Retrieved March 5, 2021 from Statistics Canada: https://tinyurl.com/r6t3zp8n

  • Stepper, S., & Strack, F. (1993). Proprioceptive determinants of emotional and nonemotional feelings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(2), 211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strain, A., & D’Mello, S. (2011). Emotion regulation during learning. In S. Bull & G. Biswas (Eds.), Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (pp. 566–568). Springer.

  • Strain, A. C., & D’Mello, S. K. (2015). Affect regulation during learning: The enhancing effect of cognitive reappraisal. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 29, 1–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szulecka, T. K., Springett, N. R., & De Pauw, K. W. (1987). General health, psychiatric vulnerability and withdrawal from university in first-year undergraduates. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 15(1), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069888708251646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Szasz, P. L., Szentagotai, A., & Hofmann, S. G. (2011). The effect of emotion regulation strategies on anger. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(2), 114–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (2013). Using multivariate statistics. Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wall, K. (2019). Persistence and representation of women in STEM programs. Statistics Canada. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED594933.pdf

  • Weston, T. J., Seymour, E., Koch, A. K., & Drake, B. M. (2019). Weed-out classes and their consequences. In E. Seymour & A.-B. Hunter (Eds.), Talking about leaving revisited: Persistence, relocation, and loss in undergraduate STEM education (pp. 197–243). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25304-2_7

  • Wolgast, M., Lundh, L.-G., & Viborg, G. (2011). Cognitive reappraisal and acceptance: An experimental comparison of two emotion regulation strategies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49(12), 858–866. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.09.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolniak, G. C. (2016). Examining STEM bachelor’s degree completion for students with differing propensities at college entry. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 18(3), 287–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyonch, R. (2020). Work-ready graduates: The role of co-op programs in labour market success. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3520206

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by funding to the first author from a Richard H. Tomlinson Doctoral Fellowship and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, 3700 McTavish Street, Montréal, Quebec, H3A 1Y2, Canada

    Amanda Jarrell, Susanne P. Lajoie, Nathan C. Hall & Phoenix T. M. Horrocks

Authors
  1. Amanda Jarrell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Susanne P. Lajoie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nathan C. Hall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Phoenix T. M. Horrocks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

Amanda Jarrell and Susanne Lajoie contributed principally to the study design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Amanda Jarrell. All authors contributed substantially to manuscript writing and revisions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nathan C. Hall.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of Interest/Competing Interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Data Transparency

Anonymized study data is available upon request.

Ethics Approval

All study protocols were approved by the McGill University Research Ethics Board (REB-2) and adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jarrell, A., Lajoie, S.P., Hall, N.C. et al. Antecedents and Consequences of Emotion Regulation in STEM Degree Programs. Innov High Educ 47, 493–514 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09587-1

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-021-09587-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation