Can an angry pedagogical agent enhance mental effort and learning performance in a multimedia learning environment?

Purpose This study aims to examine if a pedagogical agent’s expressed anger, when framed as a feedback cue, can enhance mental effort and learning performance in a multimedia learning environment than expressed happiness. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects experiment was conducted in which learners engaged with a multimedia learning material that taught programming algorithms, featuring a pedagogical agent who expressed anger or happiness as a feedback cue in response to the learners’ prior performance. Learners completed a self-reported scale and post-test for measuring mental effort and learning performance, respectively. Findings Female learners reported higher mental effort and had better learning performance when the pedagogical agent expressed anger than happiness. Male learners reported marginally lower mental effort when the pedagogical agent expressed anger than happiness. Originality/value This study focuses on a pedagogical agent’s expressed emotion as social information to learners. Extending from research advocating a pedagogical agent’s positive emotional expression, this study highlights the potential benefits of a pedagogical agent’s negative emotional expression, such as anger, as a cue for learners to enhance learning effort and performance in a multimedia learning environment.