The Effects of a University’s Self-Presentation and Applicants’ Regulatory Focus on Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Student Engagement
Elke Kümmel and
Joachim Kimmerle
Additional contact information
Elke Kümmel: Knowledge Construction Lab, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
Joachim Kimmerle: Knowledge Construction Lab, Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien, D-72076 Tübingen, Germany
Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-21
Abstract:
A university’s presentation of its programs to the public should provide potential students with information about what they can expect as students at that university. However, it is largely unclear what kind of self-presentation affects different applicants and their commitment. In a laboratory experiment with N = 116 participants, we examined the emotional, behavioral and cognitive impact of a university’s self-presentation (either emphasizing chances for students or emphasizing their obligations) on student engagement. We also measured the participants’ regulatory focus (promotion and prevention focus). We found interaction effects of the university’s self-presentation and participants’ promotion and prevention focus on student engagement. There was a regulatory fit for promotion focus in the chances condition for emotions and behavior. There was also a regulatory fit for prevention focus in the obligations condition for cognitive processes. We conclude that universities should dedicate time and effort to creating a clear presentation of their offerings in the implementation of digital learning environments.
Keywords: academic performance; academic motivation; academic goals; motivational strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:
Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10045/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/23/10045/ (text/html)
Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.
Export reference: BibTeX
RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan)
HTML/Text
Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:23:p:10045-:d:454605
Access Statistics for this article
Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu
More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().