Affective Underpinnings of the Association Between Autonomy Support and Self-Regulated Learning

Abstract:Despite ample research on the role of parental autonomy support in adolescents’ adjustment, the affective processes underlying parental autonomy support remain relatively unclear. As an initial step to fill this gap, the current research examined whether the association between parental autonomy support and adolescents’ school adjustment was in part channeled through their experience of positive emotions. American and Chinese adolescents (N = 562, mean age = 12.72 years) reported on their parents’ use of autonomy-supportive practices, their own experiences of positive emotions, and self-regulated learning strategies, at three time points. American and Chinese adolescents who perceived their parents as autonomy-supportive were more likely to experience heightened positive emotions 6 months later. In turn, such positive emotional experiences were predictive of adolescents’ subsequent use of self-regulation in their learning endeavors. There was also evidence that adolescents’ experiences of positive emotions partially accounted for the associations between parental autonomy support and adolescents’ self-regulated learning.