ERIC Number: EJ1462424
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Mar
Pages: 38
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-726X
EISSN: EISSN-1573-336X
Available Date: 2025-03-13
How Similar Are Students' Aggregated State Emotions to Their Self-Reported Trait Emotions? Results from a Measurement Burst Design across Three School Years
Educational Psychology Review, v37 n1 Article 26 2025
Students' emotions in the classroom are highly dynamic and thus typically strongly vary from one moment to the next. Methodologies like experience sampling and daily diaries have been increasingly used to capture these momentary emotional states and its fluctuations. A recurring question is to what extent aggregated state ratings of emotions over a longer period of time are similar to self-reported traits of emotions. Thus, this study aims to investigate the extent of similarity between students' aggregated emotional states and self-reported traits over a two-week period in three consecutive school years (N[subscript T1] = 149, average age[subscript T1] = 15.64 years). Six discrete emotions (enjoyment, anger, pride, anxiety, shame, and boredom) were assessed in German, English, French, and mathematics classes. We investigated similarity in terms of convergence, mean-level differences, long-term stability, and incremental predictive validity of aggregated states and self-reported traits. Results indicated substantial convergence between aggregated states and self-reported traits, with both showing similar long-term stability. However, aggregated states did not demonstrate superior predictive validity compared to self-reported traits for academic outcomes, while momentary assessments offer insights into short-term emotional fluctuations, on a person-aggregated level aggregated states and self-reported traits behave rather similarly. This suggests that both can be used interchangeably to study students' trait-related research questions, like interindividual differences or long-term emotional processes in educational settings.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, High School Students, Affective Behavior, Emotional Response, Emotional Adjustment, Personality Traits, Anxiety, Psychological Patterns, Measurement Techniques, Affective Measures, Self Concept, Self Evaluation (Individuals), Comparative Testing, Longitudinal Studies, Data Interpretation, Data Collection, Student Behavior
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: High Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Switzerland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1Department of Physics Education, IPN–Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Kiel, Germany; 2University of Vienna, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, Vienna, Austria; 3IPN–Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Center for International Student Assessment, Kiel, Germany