Effects of academic emotions on achievement among mainland Chinese students: A meta-analysis

We undertook a meta-analysis to explore the relationship between academic emotions (comprising positive high-arousal [PHA], positive low-arousal [PLA], negative high-arousal [NHA], and negative low-arousal [NLA] emotions) and academic performance among mainland Chinese students, and analyzed the moderating effects of regional location, age, achievement domain match, and gender on these associations. Included in the research were 35 primary studies with 17,548 participants. Results of the meta-analysis showed overwhelming support for the positive correlations between PHA, PLA, and academic achievement (r_PHA = .312, r_PLA = .376), and negative correlations between NHA, NLA, and academic achievement (r_NHA = -.179, r_NLA = -.371). Furthermore, moderation analyses suggested that these effects were influenced by regional location, age, achievement domain match, and gender. Practical and theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.