How Teacher Autonomy Support and Emotional Violence Shape Adolescent Achievement Emotions: The Mediating Effect of Teacher-Student Relatedness

Abstract

Background: Achievement emotions (e.g., enjoyment, pride, anxiety, boredom) critically influence students' academic engagement and performance. Teachers foster intrinsic motivation and positive achievement emotions by providing autonomy support that fulfills students' psychological needs. In contrast, emotionally abusive teacher behaviors (e.g., sarcasm, belittlement) thwart these needs, leading to negative emotions and academic burnout. This study examined how teacher autonomy support and teacher emotional violence relate to students' achievement emotions, and whether teacher-student relatedness mediates these effects. Methods: 1506 high school students (52.3% girls; Mage = 15.94, SD = 0.69) from a county-level school in Shaanxi Province participated in our study. Participants completed self-report questionnaires, including the Learning Climate Questionnaire, Emotional Abuse Scale, Achievement Emotions Questionnaire, Teacher-Student Relationship Questionnaire, and a Demographic Questionnaire. Data collection for this cross-sectional study was completed in January 2024. Results: Teacher autonomy support was positively correlated with teacher-student relatedness and students' positive achievement emotions, whereas teacher emotional violence was associated with poorer teacher-student relationships and more negative emotions. Furthermore, teacher-student relatedness significantly mediated the effects of both autonomy support and emotional violence on students' achievement emotions. Conclusions: These findings highlight the pivotal role of supportive teacher behaviors and relationships in shaping students' emotional experiences. Enhancing teachers' autonomy support and eliminating emotional violence through targeted training could strengthen teacher-student relatedness and foster more positive achievement emotions among students.