The effects of school psychological capital and achievement emotions on behavioral engagement of Chinese secondary mathematics learners: a structural equation modeling approach

Background School psychological capital (PsyCap), the positive psychological state or psychological resources displayed within school contexts, has been shown to correlate positively with achievement emotions, engagement, and subjective well-being. Few studies, however, have investigated whether achievement emotions mediate the association between school PsyCap and behavioral engagement. Methods This study aimed to investigate the emotional underpinnings linking students’ school PsyCap to their behavioral engagement in mathematics classrooms. Self-report data on mathematics-related PsyCap resources, enjoyment, anxiety, and behavioral engagement were collected from 1135 Chinese secondary school students aged 12–15 years (M age = 13.15, SD = 0.75). Having controlled for prior achievement and gender, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the potential mediating effect of academic enjoyment and anxiety in the relationship between school PsyCap on behavioral engagement. Results The findings revealed that higher levels of school PsyCap and positive emotional experiences were positively correlated with greater behavioral engagement in mathematics learning. Conversely, negative emotions were negatively associated with engagement. SEM analyses indicated that achievement emotions (enjoyment and anxiety) partially mediated the association between school PsyCap and behavioral engagement. Conclusion Students with higher levels of school PsyCap exhibited greater positive achievement emotions and lower levels of negative emotion in mathematics classes, which, in turn, were associated with higher levels of behavioral engagement. These findings highlight the importance of fostering students’ school PsyCap to enhance their emotional well-being and engagement in mathematics learning.