Achievement emotions and well-being at school: Transitioning from primary to secondary school

Achievement emotions play a key role in students’ well-being and learning. In line with the control-value theory, many studies support the relevance of achievement emotions for achievement. However, scarce attention has been devoted to school-related achievement emotions and well-being in the transition from primary to secondary school. We examined the psychometric properties of two brief scales assessing achievement emotions and well-being using Rasch modelling, possible grade-level and gender differences in emotions and well-being, and their relations with achievement. We sampled 432 fourth and seventh-graders. At T1 we assessed school-related achievement emotions (Achievement Emotions Adjective List–Brief version, AEAL–B, Raccanello et al., 2013) and well-being (School-Related Well-Being Scale, SWBS, Loderer et al., 2016). At T2 we gathered data on grades. First, our findings confirmed the goodness of two brief instruments to measure achievement emotions and well-being at school. Through Rasch modelling, we transformed the two scales in two instruments that respect the properties of the fundamental measurement. Second, grade-level differences emerged, with a general decrease of positive emotions and well-being that attests a maladaptive trend. Moreover, females reported lower anger, hopelessness, and boredom, and higher well-being. Third, a path analysis revealed that some school-related negative emotions, namely anger, hopelessness, and boredom, are detrimental for achievement, while well-being at school was positively associated to achievement. This study highlights the need for developing interventions to support students in the transition from primary to secondary school, which is such a pivotal time in their learning path.