Interaction Effects of Control–Value Appraisals on Enjoyment/Boredom and Motivational Engagement

Vol.&No.：Vol. 68, No. 4
 
Date：December 2023
Pages：1-33
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202312_68(4).0001

Abstract：
The academic emotion theory encompasses two main models: the control-value theory (CVT) and the cognitive motivational model. These models are used to examine the factors that precede and follow academic emotion (Pekrun et al., 2002). According to the CVT, academic emotions are closely related to how students perceive their control over learning and value achievement. When students perceive control and achievement, they experience positive emotions, such as enjoyment, hope, and pride, and their negative emotions, such as anxiety, hopelessness, or boredom, are reduced (Pekrun et al., 2002; Shao et al., 2020). The cognitive motivational model suggests that academic emotions affect learning and achievement through cognitive and motivational mechanisms, such as engagement (Pekrun et al., 2002). In summary, appraisals of control and value indirectly influence motivational engagement by shaping academic emotions.
According to the CVT, academic emotions are not simply the result of control appraisal and value appraisal added together but rather a multiplicative function of these two factors. For instance, the effect of control appraisal on positive emotions, such as enjoyment, hope, and pride, is expected to be much stronger for students who have a higher value appraisal of academic study and achievement. Control appraisal and value appraisal interact for determining achievement-related emotions. Except for a few studies (Bieg et al., 2013; Goetz et al., 2010; Putwain et al., 2018; Shao et al., 2020), research so far has focused on investigating the separate (unique) effects (i.e., additive effects), rather than the interactive effects (i.e., synergistic effects), of control-value appraisals on academic emotions, learning, and achievement among students (Nagengast et al., 2011; Trautwein et al., 2012). Additionally, few studies in Taiwan have examined whether control appraisal and value appraisal have synergistic interaction effects on motivational engagement among students through academic emotions.
In this study, we focused on two specific academic emotions: enjoyment and boredom. These emotions are frequently experienced in relation to achievement (Lüfteneggerr et al., 2016; Pekrun et al., 2002). Enjoyment is defined as a pleasant activating emotion, whereas boredom is defined as an unpleasant deactivating emotion. Both of these emotions are activity-related emotions (Pekrun, 2006). Additionally, researchers in the field of educational psychology often use motivational involvement as an external indicator of motivation. Motivational involvement refers to the learning strategies and actions adopted by students that contribute to their success in achieving learning goals (Pintrich & Schunk, 2008). Several studies have used indicators such as effort, persistence, and challenge-seeking and help-seeking behaviors to measure motivational engagement (Pintrich & Schunk, 2008). Accordingly, we integrated the CVT and the cognitive-motivational model to examine how control and value appraisal interact with the motivational engagement of students through enjoyment and boredom.
The present study has two objectives. First, to construct mediation models to investigate the relationship between control appraisal, enjoyment/boredom, and motivational engagement (i.e., the indirect effects of control appraisal→ enjoyment/boredom→ motivational engagement). Second, to explore whether these mediation relationships can be moderated by value appraisal. Two research questions guided the research: (1) Does control appraisal have indirect effects on motivational engagement through the feelings of enjoyment and boredom? (2) Does value appraisal moderate the aforementioned mediation effects?
In research question 1, we hypothesize that control appraisal exerts positive predictive effects on enjoyment and motivational engagement but has negative predictive effects on boredom. We also hypothesize that motivational engagement is positively predicted by enjoyment but is negatively predicted by boredom (research hypothesis 1-1). Furthermore, we hypothesize that enjoyment/boredom mediates the relationship between control appraisal and motivational engagement. In other words, control appraisal promotes enjoyment but reduces boredom, which in turn increases motivational engagement (research hypothesis 1-2). In research question 2, we hypothesize that value appraisal moderates the positive indirect effects of “control appraisal→ enjoyment/boredom→ motivational engagement” (research hypothesis 2).
Students from 18 seventh-grade classes in Taiwanese junior high schools were recruited in the present study. The study had a prospectivel ongitudinal design with three measurement waves to evaluate control-value appraisals, enjoyment, boredom, and motivational engagement. The first, second, and third measurements were conducted in October 2019 (T1), October 2020 (T2), and October 2021 (T3), respectively. Initially, 468 students volunteered to participate (with written parental consent) in this study. However, data from 18 participants were not included in the analyses because these participants were not present for all sessions. The final sample comprised 468 students (212 boys and 256 girls). Methodologically, three theoretical models were constructed: two mediation models and a conditional indirect effect model. These models were used to test the relationships between control-value appraisal, enjoyment/boredom, and motivational engagement. Collected data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to test both the mediation effects and conditional indirect effects. Additionally, prior achievement, prior enjoyment/boredom, prior motivational engagement, and gender were treated as control variables.
In research hypothesis 1, the observed data support two mediation models. These models suggest that control appraisal influences enjoyment/boredom, which in turn influences motivational engagement. Specifically, control appraisal positively predicts enjoyment (and negatively predicts boredom), leading to increased motivational engagement. In research hypothesis 2, value appraisal moderates the positive indirect effects of “control appraisal→ (+) enjoyment→ (+) motivational engagement” and “control appraisal→ (−) boredom→ (−) motivational engagement.” When the level of value appraisal increases, the effects of control appraisal on enjoyment/boredom and subsequently on motivational engagement increase.
Two main conclusions can be drawn from the aforementioned results. First, our results support the hypothesis that academic emotions (i.e., enjoyment and boredom) play mediating roles between control appraisal and motivational engagement. Second, our finding suggests that value appraisal moderates the aforementioned mediations. When the level of value appraisal increases, the influence of control appraisal on enjoyment/boredom and subsequently on motivational engagement increases. This result supports the interaction effects of control-value appraisals.

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