Understanding the Interplay Between Achievement Goals and Stress Appraisals in Academic Performance Settings

Abstract

This study integrates achievement goal theory and stress frameworks to advance our understanding of students’ performance and affective experiences in an academic context. A total of 308 first-year college students (M_age = 18.3 years, SD_age = 0.62 years) reported their achievement goals (i.e., performance-approach, performance-avoidance, mastery-approach, and mastery-avoidance), stress appraisals (i.e., resources and demands) and post-exam emotions (i.e., happiness, pride, sadness and embarrassment) during exam days in a first-semester college course. Approach goals were associated with better exam scores; avoidance goals were not related to exam performance. Resource appraisals mediated the link between mastery-approach goals and exam scores, whereas the link between performance-approach goals and exam scores was independent of stress appraisals. Exploratory analyses revealed that students’ resource appraisals before an exam were a better predictor of post-exam emotions than demand appraisals and achievement goals. These findings underscore the added value of an integrative approach for both theory and practice, which has the potential to inform the development of more effective and individualized educational interventions.