Self-Regulating Motivation and Emotion During Learning
Image by Leo Fontes from Pixabay
By Althea Need Kaminske
Self-regulated learning is a cyclical process of forethought, performance, and self-reflection that allows a learner to regulate their learning (1). While a number of cognitive processes, particularly metacognitive processes, are involved in self-regulated learning, a learner’s ability to assess and regulate their motivational and emotional state can heavily influence their self-regulation of their learning. A recent paper in Educational Psychologist by Stockinger, Nett, and Dresel (2026) proposed a framework for understanding how motivational and emotional regulation interact (2).
Motivations and emotions about learning can have substantial overlap, but can also be treated as distinct (2). Motivations about learning include goal-directed actions that initiated, sustained, and driven by the learner’s expectations for success and values assigned to tasks and outcomes. Emotions about learning focus on the affective and arousal components of the experience of the learning process - whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, activating or deactivating. Typically, these two processes overlap. A learner may work towards a goal and feel joy when it is achieved, or sadness when it is not. However, it is possible to have a neutral or negative response to goal achievement as well (what I would call soulless striving wherein the learner places unreasonable expectations on themselves and on the learning process and feels disconnected from the end result).
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
Throughout the paper, Stockinger et al. (2026) highlight the interplay between motivational regulation and emotional regulation and call for a model of self-regulated learning that acknowledges how closely interwoven the two can be. An aspect of this work that I find really interesting is the emphasis on how the learner perceives the process. Is the learner seeking to improve their motivation? Alleviate boredom? Both? The authors point out that two learners can approach self-regulated learning in very different ways depending on how they evaluated their motivational and emotional needs.
The ability to assess these needs and set goals, of course, relies on a learner’s metamotivational and metaemotional knowledge. Can they identify a feeling of discomfort or frustration? Do they interpret that as needing to better define their goals, set different expectations, or a misunderstanding of the outcomes? Or does it stem from feelings of anxiety or despondency? There may not be one right answer, and the degree to which attempting to regulate motivations, emotions, or both is fruitful depends very much on the learner’s perceptions of their needs.
Understanding the interplay between motivational and emotional regulation is critical to better understanding self-regulated learning. In my work with medical students I often see a point where a student’s ability to successfully assess and implement an effective (cognitive) learning strategy is impacted by their motivational or emotional regulation. If they feel disconnected from their goal of becoming a doctor, or are experiencing social isolation and a lack of support, then I feel a little silly providing guidance on how to approach practice questions or incorporate flashcards. While that may be helpful to some extent, I don’t feel I’m actually helping the student to fully address what they need to be successful.
References
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64-70. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2
Stockinger, K., Nett, U. E., & Dresel, M. (2026). Interwoven systems: Towards an integrative framework of students’ motivational and emotional self-regulation. Educational Psychologist, 61(2), 78-98. https://doi.org/1080/00461520.2025.2591964
