Academic emotions and reading motivation: preliminary evidence for their development and interrelations in childhood and preadolescence

Abstract

In recent years, there is an increased interest in exploring psycho-emotional dimensions of learning. Scholars emphasize the important roles of emotion and motivation, in parallel to cognitive functions, in facilitating performance and achievement at school. Within this framework, the present study aimed at offering preliminary findings regarding reading-related academic emotions and motivation in the middle childhood and pre-adolescence years; relevant evidence in the Greek context remains scarce. The sample consisted of students attending the 3rd (Ν = 85) and 5th (Ν = 76) grades of elementary school. Participants completed (a) the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire - Elementary School, (b) the Achievement Emotions - Questionnaire for Pre- adolescence, (c) the Motivation for Reading Questionnaire as well as (d) the Self- Regulation Questionnaire - Reading Motivation. The analyses revealed a decrease of motivation for pre-adolescents regarding reading in academic or recreational contexts. As far as academic emotions are concerned, the positive emotion of enjoyment for reading also decreased as a function of age. Furthermore, positive emotions were positively related with internal motives in contrast to negative emotions, which also correlated positively yet with external motives. The discussion section highlights the need for continuing this line of research, which could eventually inform the development of age-appropriate interventions in schools, aiming to boost autonomous motivation and positive affect connected with learning.