Achievement Emotions in Germany and China

The aim of this study was to establish the construct comparability and cross-cultural utility of the German and Chinese versions of the Academic Emotions Questionnaire—Mathematics (AEQ-M). Based on data from 312 German and 579 Chinese eighth-grade students, mean and covariance structures analysis revealed that the AEQ-M shows a high degree of measurement invariance across cultures. In addition, the emotions assessed by the AEQ-M showed similar patterns of relationships with self-reports of achievement, parental achievement expectations, and attributions of success and failure across the German and Chinese samples. Confirming earlier findings, Chinese students were found to experience higher levels of anxiety in mathematics. They were also found to experience more enjoyment, pride, and shame, and less anger, than German students. This research supports the use of the AEQ-M in cross-cultural research and provides data about a broader range of achievement emotions than has been investigated previously.