Abstract
Adolescents’ emotional engagement plays a critical role in promoting their academic performance as well as overall psychological
wellbeing. As a part of a 3-year longitudinal study, this study drew upon self-determination theory to examine three psychological
predictors of emotional engagement within specific learning contexts. Ninety-four, low socioeconomic status (SES), ninth grade
students (49% male; 32 Blacks, 30 Whites, and 32 Latinos) rated the perceived fulfillment of their autonomy, competence, and
relatedness needs and their emotional engagement in learning settings at multiple time points over a 1-week period. Hierarchical
linear modeling showed that the students’ ratings of their psychological-need fulfillment and of their emotional engagement
fluctuated over time and across contexts. After accounting for student gender, race/ethnicity, and prior achievement, we found
that the fulfillment of each type of psychological need in a particular learning context was related to emotional engagement
in that context (i.e., within-student level). The fulfillment of students’ need for autonomy also was related to their emotional
engagement at the aggregated level (i.e., between-student level). These findings illustrate how the psychological affordances
of particular learning settings are associated with emotional engagement within and between students from low SES backgrounds.
wellbeing. As a part of a 3-year longitudinal study, this study drew upon self-determination theory to examine three psychological
predictors of emotional engagement within specific learning contexts. Ninety-four, low socioeconomic status (SES), ninth grade
students (49% male; 32 Blacks, 30 Whites, and 32 Latinos) rated the perceived fulfillment of their autonomy, competence, and
relatedness needs and their emotional engagement in learning settings at multiple time points over a 1-week period. Hierarchical
linear modeling showed that the students’ ratings of their psychological-need fulfillment and of their emotional engagement
fluctuated over time and across contexts. After accounting for student gender, race/ethnicity, and prior achievement, we found
that the fulfillment of each type of psychological need in a particular learning context was related to emotional engagement
in that context (i.e., within-student level). The fulfillment of students’ need for autonomy also was related to their emotional
engagement at the aggregated level (i.e., between-student level). These findings illustrate how the psychological affordances
of particular learning settings are associated with emotional engagement within and between students from low SES backgrounds.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Empirical Research
- Pages 1-12
- DOI 10.1007/s10964-011-9738-3
- Authors
- Sira Park, Department of Education, Cognition and Development, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 4316 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670, USA
- Susan D. Holloway, Department of Education, Cognition and Development, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 4316 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670, USA
- Amanda Arendtsz, Department of Education, Cognition and Development, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Berkeley, 4316 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1670, USA
- Janine Bempechat, Department of Psychology and Human Development, Wheelock College, 200 The Riverway, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Jin Li, Department of Education, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- Journal Journal of Youth and Adolescence
- Online ISSN 1573-6601
- Print ISSN 0047-2891