The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of emotion beliefs on emotions and goal-setting involved in the academic setting. Specifically, I examined whether (a) learning-related emotions experienced prior to exams predicted grades, (b) emotion beliefs moderated this relationship between emotion and grades, (c) exam performance predicted outcome-related emotions after exams, (d) outcome-related emotions predicted changes in goal-setting from before to after an exam, and (e) whether the relationship between emotion and goal-setting shifts was moderated by emotion beliefs. Undergraduate students (N = 329) responded to questionnaires about their emotions and goal orientations across two primary waves of data collection which coincided with their first two Introduction to Psychology exams. Multiple regression analyses revealed preliminary evidence to support the inclusion of emotion beliefs in models of academic achievement.
