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114 CHAPTER 5WHAT IS THE ROLE OF EMOTIONS IN ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE?What are emotions? How can negative emotions be modified? How
do emotions impact academic achievement? These are the key ques-
tions that we will focus on in this chapter. My students write weekly
journals in my learning and study strategies course. When I read the
journals, I detect a wide range of both positive (e.g., enjoyment, hope,
joy, satisfaction, pride, relief) and negative emotions (e.g., boredom,
hopelessness, anxiety, disappointment, and shame). I particularly
enjoy reading about the excitement that most students report during
the first week in college. For example, there are numerous explana-
tions about the pride they feel getting into college and working toward
their long-range goals, or the excitement of meeting their roommates
for the first time, and liking them. Other positive emotions pertain to
receiving a good grade on their first quizzes or papers, or the satis-
faction in meeting a new friend or having a great date.
Many students describe that their emotions resemble a roller coaster
as they report the many ups and downs they experience throughout
the semester. I recently saw a television advertisement for a hospital
in my area with the slogan: “Bad things happen!” Unfortunately, the
commercial not only applies to one’s physical health, but one’s psy-
chological health as well. There are breakups in relationships, occa-
sional poor test or paper results, misunderstandings with instructors
or parents, and so forth. There are times when not all goes well. I
find it interesting how students have different coping strategies to deal
with adversity. Here is an example of negative emotions I recently read
in one student’s journal:I thought I was good in science before I started taking sci-
ence courses at the university. The instructors cover more
material in one lecture than I received in 2 weeks in high
school. There doesn’t seem to be any relationship between
how much I study and my grades on exams. I’m beginning
to feel dumb! I don’t know what to tell my parents. They
are going to be so disappointed in me!This student is experiencing shame. Not only is he not receiving good
grades, but he feels that he has little control over the events causing
him to score low on examinations.
Some students are able to increase their motivation, make adjust-
ments in their study strategies, and overcome feelings of shame. How-
ever, other students seem to crumple in the face of adversity.
What do we know about the difference between students who deal
effectively with the feelings of shame and those students who do not
(Turner, Husman, & Schallert, 2002)? Students who appear to be
resistant to shame tend to focus on their valued future goals and are