Positive emotions predict students’ well-being and academic motivation: The broaden-and-build approach

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., identifi ed 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.