HUMAN EMOTIONS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN EDUCATIONAL SETTINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Abstract

Emotions are a basic part of everyday life in classrooms, but their role in education has been overshadowed by a narrow focus on cognition and test performance. The present study examined the interrelations of human emotions, psychological well-being and their implications for teaching and learning in secondary school contexts. A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational design was used. Stratified random sampling was applied to select students in Grades 8 to 11 and their teachers from school sectors and geographic regions. Data were collected using validated self-report measures of achievement emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride, anger, anxiety, shame, boredom, and hopelessness), a five-dimension measure of adolescent psychological well-being (engagement, perseverance, optimism, connectedness, and happiness), perceived teacher support, and teacher emotion regulation. Data analysis Descriptive statistics, internal consistency analyses, Pearson correlations, multiple regression and bootstrapped mediation analyses were used to analyse the data. Results indicated that adolescents’ well-being was overall moderate-to-high, with connectedness and happiness rated most positively and perseverance the lowest. Positive emotions (notably enjoyment and hope) were positively associated with engagement, adaptive learning strategies and academic performance, whereas negative emotions (anxiety, boredom, hopelessness) were negatively associated with these outcomes. Positive academic emotions were positively correlated with perceived teacher support and negatively correlated with negative academic emotions. Student engagement was significantly correlated with school well-being. Teachers' reported cognitive reappraisal was related to teacher well-being in adaptive ways, and mediation analyses showed that teacher support affected student well-being through positive achievement emotions. These findings support the view that emotions and well-being are central, rather than peripheral, to effective teaching and learning. The study indicates that practical levers for fostering positive emotional climates are meaningful tasks, autonomy-supportive practices, and caring teacher-student relationships, and that institutional attention to teacher well-being is inextricably tied to the goal of fostering student flourishing. Limitations include the cross-sectional design and reliance on self-report. Future research should use longitudinal and experimental designs to establish causality and test specific interventions.