Work

From feedback orientation to academic emotions: the indirect association through agentic engagement among secondary vocational students

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Feedback is integral to vocational learning, yet receiving feedback does not ensure that students value it, feel capable of using it, or actively contribute to the feedback process. This gap is particularly relevant in secondary vocational education, where learning often involves repeated practice, explicit performance standards, and structured professional preparation. Drawing on a Self-Determination Theory-informed perspective, this study examined how feedback orientation is associated with agentic engagement and positive academic emotions among 452 students from a Chinese secondary vocational school. Confirmatory factor analysis supported feedback orientation as a multidimensional but strongly integrated construct comprising feedback utility, self-efficacy, social awareness, and accountability. Structural equation modeling showed that feedback orientation was positively associated with agentic engagement ( β = 0.662), which was in turn positively associated with positive academic emotions ( β = 0.482). A significant indirect association was also observed ( β = 0.319), alongside a remaining direct association between feedback orientation and positive academic emotions. These findings extend feedback-orientation research from how students perceive feedback to how these orientations are associated with proactive participation and emotional experience. They highlight agentic engagement as one plausible component of this relationship rather than a sole or causal mechanism. Given the cross-sectional, single-school, predominantly female, self-report design, longitudinal, multi-method, and multi-site research is needed to establish temporal processes and examine the generalizability of these relationships across vocational contexts.

Source: Frontiers in Psychology

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1959575

Authors: Juan Gao, Lan Yang

Institutions: Hunan University of Arts and Science, Education University of Hong Kong

Language: English

Topic: Student Assessment and Feedback

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,801