Hope and Fear: A test of appraisal theory in education

Abstract

Appraisal theory was proposed to be beneficial to the understanding of emotions in education. Focusing on hope and fear, the thesis examined models of relations between antecedents, appraisals, action readiness, hope or fear. Study 1 was designed to examine studentsa?? hope and fear experiences with regards to English proficiency. The data generally fitted the models of relationships between antecedents, appraisals, action readiness and hope better than it was for fear. For fear, an additional path has to be added from previous achievement to fear for all the models tested. Some important paths such as between previous achievement and perceived control appraisal were not supported. Study 2 was a simulation study designed to address the problem of time lag between previous achievement and the measurement of appraisals. Model fitting results closely matched those of Study 1. However, paths between the variables were weaker in Study 2. Strengths, limitations and future research were discussed.