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Lifen Hu, University at Albany–State University of New York, United StatesAbstract
This study investigates the relationship between emotional factors, specifically, students’ enjoyment of science and test anxiety and science performance across seven top-performing education systems (Hong Kong, China (B-S-G-J), Singapore, Korea, Australia, Canada, and Finland) using data from Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015. Drawing on the Control-Value Theory of achievement emotions (Pekrun, 2006), the study examines how these emotional variables predict students’ science achievement while controlling for individual and school-level socioeconomic status and other background factors through hierarchical linear modeling (HLM). Findings show that students’ enjoyment of science is positively associated with performance across all economies, though the strength of this relationship varies. Test anxiety generally has a negative effect on students’ academic performance, with Finland showing the strongest detrimental impact and Korea showing no significant relationship. The analysis reveals pronounced school-level stratification, with Eastern economies like China, Singapore, and Korea showing higher between-school variance in science performance, suggesting more segregated systems. Western systems such as Finland and Canada display lower stratification, reflecting greater equity. Stratification may heighten competition, boosting enjoyment for top performers but increasing anxiety for lower achievers. Yet, this is not universal; in Korea, test anxiety does not significantly predict science performance, possibly due to cultural coping norms. Substantial between-school socioeconomic disparities are also found, especially in Eastern economies. Gender differences emerge in both emotional variables and science performance. These results highlight the need to address emotional well-being and structural inequality to improve science outcomes in high-performing education systems.
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Conference: ECE2025Stream: Educational policy
This paper is part of the ECE2025 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Hu L. (2025) Achievement Emotions and Science Performance in PISA 2015: Multilevel Analysis of the Seven Eastern & Western Top Performers ISSN: 2188-1162 The European Conference on Education 2025: Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 335-352) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2025.29
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2188-1162.2025.29
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