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Although previous research showed that discrete social-emotional skills such as empathy, motivation, and social relationships in school significantly predict achievement, students tend to use various social-emotional skills in combination. As such previous investigations cannot comment on how different combinations or profiles of students' social-emotional skills predict achievement relative to discrete skills. Likewise, little is known about cross-national comparisons of social-emotional skill profiles (SESP), and the extent to which SESP differ on their academic achievement. The purposes of this study were three-folded: 1) to determine whether a four-factor social-emotional skills model could be used for cross-national comparisons; 2) to identify social-emotional profiles in 15-year-old students from four different countries -- Canada, the United States, China, and Singapore; and 3) to evaluate how different profiles predict students' reading, maths, and collaborative problem-solving (CPS) test scores. Our results showed multigroup measurement invariant in the structure, loadings, and thresholds of the four-factor social-emotional skills model. We identified three profiles labelled Sociable, Reserved and Withdrawn in Canada, Singapore, and the United States; whereas, we found three profiles labelled Solitary, Team-oriented, and Reserved in students in China. Finally, the way each profile associated with reading, maths and CPS in each country appeared to align with the cultural expectations of learning.

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Learning-Related Boredom Scale (LRBS) from the Academic Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ; Pekrun, Goetz, & Perry, 2005; Pekrun, Goetz, Titz, & Perry, 2002) in a sample of 405 university students from Canada and China. Multigroup confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factor structure and measurement invariance of the LRBS across cultural settings, after which the relationships between the LRBS, boredom frequency in class, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy for self-regulated learning (SESRL) were examined. Results showed evidence of reliability and measurement invariance of the LRBS, and the relationships between the LRBS, boredom frequency, and SESRL were similar across settings. The study thus provided evidence that learning-related boredom is a valid construct across culturally diverse school settings and supported the use of the LRBS in both Canadian and Chinese student populations. (Contains 4 tables and 1 note.)

Although past research has shown the benefits of using approach coping in dealing with negative emotions, little is known about how students cope with a common negative achievement emotion, boredom, across cultures. Therefore, the goals of this study were to validate the Boredom Coping Scale (BCS) in Canada (n = 151, mean age = 23.29) and China (n = 254, mean age = 21.03), to identify boredom coping profiles within individual settings, and to examine the effectiveness of the profiles in decreasing boredom, and increasing self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, motivation, and achievement. The factor structure of the BCS was comparable across the two samples; however, the two groups responded to five items differently, contributing to the overall variation. We identified two coping profiles among Canadian students and three profiles among Chinese students. Our results indicated that Canadian students predominantly endorsed cognitive-approach coping, whereas the majority of Chinese students endorsed avoidance coping. Additionally, our results found significant differences in coping effectiveness among different profiles. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Abstract: Although past research has shown the benefits of using approach coping in dealing with negative emotions, little is known about how students cope with a common negative achievement emotion, boredom, across cultures. Therefore, the goals of this study were to validate the Boredom Coping Scale (BCS) in Canada (n=151, mean age=23.29) and China (n=254, mean age=21.03), to identify boredom coping profiles within individual settings, and to examine the effectiveness of the profiles in decreasing boredom, and increasing self-efficacy for self-regulated learning, motivation, and achievement. The factor structure of the BCS was comparable across the two samples; however, the two groups responded to five items differently, contributing to the overall variation. We identified two coping profiles among Canadian students and three profiles among Chinese students. Our results indicated that Canadian students predominantly endorsed cognitive-approach coping, whereas the majority of Chinese students endorsed avoidance coping. Additionally, our results found significant differences in coping effectiveness among different profiles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]