Teacher Emotional Support Facilitates Academic Engagement Through Positive Academic Emotions and Mastery-Approach Goals Among College Students

Previous research has indicated that students’ academic engagement is related to their emotional support from teachers. However, there is scarce evidence on how teacher emotional support relates to students’ academic engagement. Given the potential role of positive academic emotions in learning, this study investigated the mediating role of students’ positive academic emotions in the relationship between teacher emotional support and academic engagement among Chinese college students. Additionally, this study examined how mastery-approach goals moderated positive academic emotions. A survey instrument containing teacher emotional support, positive academic emotions, mastery-approach goals, and academic engagement was administered to 464 Chinese college students. The results demonstrated that students’ emotional support from their teachers positively influenced their academic engagement. Positive academic emotions mediated the relationship between teacher emotional support and students’ academic engagement. Furthermore, the mastery-approach goals moderated the mediating role of positive academic emotions. Finally, the implications for teachers in teaching for practice and the application prospects are discussed.