Cognitive appraisals mediate relationships between two basic psychological needs and emotions in a massive open online course

Abstract Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are online learning environments reaching hundreds of thousands of learners, thus, supporting motivation and emotions in this context is crucial. Researchers use motivation theory to guide their studies, however, singular theoretical approaches are most common. Combining two motivation theories, self-determination theory and the control-value theory of emotions, the purpose of this study was to examine boredom and enjoyment in a MOOC and the extent to which they are supported by autonomy and relatedness, and the cognitive appraisals of control and value. There is some evidence that different learning contexts facilitate different achievement emotions between men and women, thus we also examined whether pathways leading to boredom and enjoyment differed based on gender. We used structural equation modeling to test the relationships between the basic psychological needs, cognitive appraisals, and emotions. Results showed that men and women differed in their relationships between autonomy and the two emotions: for men autonomy was negatively associated with boredom and enjoyment; for women, there were no significant direct effects. All other relationships were invariant to gender. Autonomy exerted a negative indirect effect on boredom and a positive indirect effect on enjoyment through control and value. Relatedness exerted a positive indirect effect on enjoyment through value only and a negative indirect effect on boredom through value only. Implications are discussed regarding the antecedents to emotions within a MOOC.