Feedback Loops of Students’ Goal Appraisals and Achievement Emotions During Exam Preparation

The control-value theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006) posits that emotions and appraisals of control and value influence each other over time. The aim of the present study is to test such reciprocal links between students’ appraisals (i.e., goal importance, expectancy, and control beliefs) and achievement emotions (i.e., enjoyment, anxiety, anger, boredom, and pride) across multiple time points over a time span of 40 days. Analyses in this study will be based on existing intensive longitudinal data of medical students who used a digital learning platform to prepare for their second state exam. The sample consisted of N = 340 students (70.83 % female; MAge = 25.99) and a total of 9,581 learning situations. To test our reciprocal models, we will use Dynamic Structrual Equation Modeling (DSEM; Asparouhov, Hamaker, & Muthén, 2018). We will estimate autoregressions (i.e., carry-over effects) to examine the stability of the emotions and appraisal variables within and between days. Furthermore, we will test cross-lagged effects of appraisal-emotion links from before to after learning within a day and from one day to the next.