Part 4: Academic Self-Concept and Emotions

Students’ emotions are closely tied to their self-esteem, self-concept, and feelings of self-efficacy. Academic self-concept is specific to the educational context, so a student may be engaged in some academic pursuits but not connect to others. Disidentification from an academic pursuit usually causes withdrawal of effort. Anxiety is the emotion that has received the most attention from educational psychologists and librarians, but students also experience surprise, curiosity, enyoyment, confusion, frustration, and boredom. Confusion can be beneficial to learning if it is resolved before one feels overly frustrated.