The Dampening Effects of Perceived Teacher Enthusiasm on Class-Related Boredom: The Mediating Role of Perceived Autonomy Support and Task Value

Abstract

Class-related boredom is commonly experienced by students and it has an impact on their learning engagement and achievements. Previous research has found that perceived teacher enthusiasm might contribute to reducing students’ class-related boredom. However, the mechanism through which perceived teacher enthusiasm affects class-related boredom remains unexplored. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of perceived autonomy support and task value in the relationship between teacher enthusiasm and class-related boredom. College students (N = 734) completed questionnaires on perceived teacher enthusiasm, boredom proneness, perceived task difficulty, perceived autonomy support, perceived task value, and class-related boredom. Results showed that after controlling for the effects of demographic variables, boredom proneness, and perceived task difficulty, both perceived autonomy support and task value fully mediated the relationship between perceived teacher enthusiasm and class-related boredom. These findings suggest that students who perceive more teacher enthusiasm might perceive more autonomy support and task value, which in turn reduce the students’ class-related boredom. Limitations in the present study have also been discussed.

Stability of the Mitigating Effect of Students’ Perceived Teacher Enthusiasm on Class-related Boredom: Moderating Role of Boredom Proneness and Perceived Task Difficulty

“…Goetz and colleagues suggested teacher enthusiasm as one of teachers' core teaching characteristics, and found that supportive presentation style, which included teacher enthusiasm, could significantly predict students' class-related boredom [31]. Moreover, a group of researchers recently reported the direct and indirect relationships between teacher enthusiasm and students' class-related boredom [4,5]. In a similar study, an outcome variable model of teacher enthusiasm was constructed, and an indirect predictive role of teacher enthusiasm on class-related boredom was supported [27].…”

“…Although teacher enthusiasm may play an important role in mitigating students' class-related boredom, few studies have investigated this relationship [4,5]. In terms of a theoretical basis, theories explaining the mitigating role of teacher enthusiasm on class-related boredom have been limited.…”

“…For example, in the control-value theory of achievement emotions and the study by Mann and Robinson, students' boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty were important antecedent variables of class-related boredom [13,24]. Cui et al found that after controlling for the effects of boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty, students' perceived teacher enthusiasm predicted their class-related boredom negatively and significantly [4,5]. Based on the previous research by Cui and colleagues, the current study aimed to further explore whether boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty may moderate the relationship between perceived teacher enthusiasm and class-related boredom, and whether students' perceived teacher enthusiasm can predict their class-related boredom significantly and stably among students with different levels of boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty.…”

“…Class-related boredom is a negative emotion widely experienced by students, which may affect their learning process and outputs as well as health [3]. The latest research has shown that students' perceived teacher enthusiasm negatively predicted their class-related boredom significantly, which suggests that increasing teacher enthusiasm may be an efficient way to mitigate students' class-related boredom [4,5]. In the theories of boredom antecedents and related empirical research, individuals' boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty were considered to be important factors influencing boredom in specific situations [6,7].…”

“…Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 2645 2 of 15 stable mitigating effect of perceived teacher enthusiasm on students' class-related boredom among students with different levels of boredom proneness and perceived task difficulty [4,5]. Exploring the relationships among these variables could provide an important research basis for future interventional studies.…”