Feeling politics at school: Antecedents and effects of emotions in civic education

Studies on voters have shown that emotions are an important factor in politics. However, less is known about emotions in the context of civic education. Using the control-value theory, we analyze the relationships between two types of emotions experienced in civic education and their antecedents and effects on learning: achievement emotions experienced during in-class political discussions and epistemic emotions experienced during individual processing of political information in school. We hypothesized both types of emotions relate to control and value appraisal antecedents (e.g., internal political efficacy, personal importance). Further, we expected – depending on the specific emotion – positive or negative relationships with academic outcomes (e.g., motivation, engagement, and knowledge). Data were collected in Austrian higher secondary schools with students (N = 549, Mage = 17.1) from grade 10 to 13. Results broadly support the expectations: We found mainly positive associations of antecedents and outcomes to enjoyment, hope, pride, curiosity and surprise, and negative associations to hopelessness, confusion, and boredom, but more complex correlation patterns for anxiety, anger, and shame. The results provide first insights into which emotions are experienced during political learning and underscore the importance of acknowledging the role of emotions in civic education.