Control-Value Appraisals and the Emergence of Students' Boredom: An In Situ Perspective within Lessons

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Control-Value Appraisals and the Emergence of Students' Boredom: An In Situ Perspective within Lessons
Language: English
Authors: Richard Göllner (ORCID 0000-0002-9442-7616), Kristina Kögler
Source: British Journal of Educational Psychology. 2026 96(2):733-752.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 20
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Student Attitudes, Learner Engagement, Psychological Patterns, Emotional Response, Individual Differences, Learning Experience, Secondary School Students, Interests, Comprehension
DOI: 10.1111/bjep.70048
ISSN: 0007-0998
2044-8279
Abstract: Background: Despite a growing body of research demonstrating that control and value appraisals predict students' experiences of boredom, less attention has been paid to appraisals arising from specific learning situations and their consequences for students' emotional responses. Aims: In the present study, we disentangled students' individual differences from their momentary learning experiences to examine appraisal-boredom relations, including their reciprocal effects. Methods: We analysed experience-sampling data from N = 95 secondary school students who provided repeated ratings of their comprehension, interest, and boredom during eight lessons over two consecutive curricular weeks. The data were examined using multilevel structural equation modelling with cross-lagged relations for students' momentary experiences. Results and Conclusions: We found that higher interest was consistently associated with lower boredom. In contrast, comprehension showed a more complex pattern. Boredom due to overchallenge appeared to stem from stable individual differences, whereas boredom resulting from underchallenge emerged from students' momentary comprehension. Finally, analyses of reciprocal relations revealed that boredom experienced toward the end of a lesson predicted decreases in students' subsequent comprehension and interest, highlighting the potential for downwards spirals of disengagement within the classroom context.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1505294
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Background: Despite a growing body of research demonstrating that control and value appraisals predict students' experiences of boredom, less attention has been paid to appraisals arising from specific learning situations and their consequences for students' emotional responses. Aims: In the present study, we disentangled students' individual differences from their momentary learning experiences to examine appraisal-boredom relations, including their reciprocal effects. Methods: We analysed experience-sampling data from N = 95 secondary school students who provided repeated ratings of their comprehension, interest, and boredom during eight lessons over two consecutive curricular weeks. The data were examined using multilevel structural equation modelling with cross-lagged relations for students' momentary experiences. Results and Conclusions: We found that higher interest was consistently associated with lower boredom. In contrast, comprehension showed a more complex pattern. Boredom due to overchallenge appeared to stem from stable individual differences, whereas boredom resulting from underchallenge emerged from students' momentary comprehension. Finally, analyses of reciprocal relations revealed that boredom experienced toward the end of a lesson predicted decreases in students' subsequent comprehension and interest, highlighting the potential for downwards spirals of disengagement within the classroom context.
ISSN:0007-0998
2044-8279
DOI:10.1111/bjep.70048