Emotional metacognition and university perception: an interpretation through enactive emotional cognition

Emotional metacognition refers to individuals’ perceived capacity to attend to, understand, and regulate emotional experiences. This study examined differences in Attention, Clarity, and Regulation according to academic year, academic program, and faculty, and their associations with university and vocational experience. This cross-sectional study analyzed archival data from 460 s- and fifth-year undergraduates from a private university in Arequipa, Peru, collected during the 2008 academic period (January–March 2008), with a mean age of 22.43 years (SD = 2.96). Emotional functioning was assessed with the Trait Meta-Mood Scale-24 (TMMS-24), and university experience with an eight-question categorical questionnaire. Pearson’s chi-square tests, Cramér’s V, Monte Carlo procedures for sparse tables, and Benjamini–Hochberg adjustment for 24 item-level comparisons were used. Academic year was not associated with Attention, χ²(2, N = 449) = 0.337, p =.845, V=0.027; Clarity, χ²(2, N = 440) = 2.726, p =.256, V=0.079; or Regulation, χ²(2, N = 449) = 0.282, p =.868, V=0.025. Academic program was associated with Attention, χ²(18, N = 449) = 39.795, p =.002, V=0.211; Clarity, χ²(18, N = 440) = 54.027, p <.001, V=0.248; and Regulation, χ²(18, N = 449) = 46.201, p <.001, V=0.227. Faculty was also associated with all three dimensions (all p <.001; V=0.160–0.203). Only Clarity and willingness to choose the same profession again remained significant after false-discovery-rate adjustment (q=0.024). Emotional metacognition did not differ by academic year but showed modest variation across programs and faculties. Associations with university experience were selective rather than global. Causal or developmental interpretations are not warranted. Given the historical nature of the data (collected between January and March 2008, within the 2007–2008 academic period), findings should be interpreted as preliminary and context-specific rather than as a description of current Peruvian university students’ experiences.