Abstract
Orientation: In human resources literature affect, or affectivity, has been identified as contributing, either negatively or positively, to different forms of performance in a range of different contexts.Research purpose: The aim of the study was to empirically test theory that predicts that affect can influence performance; in this case the academic performance of students in the South African higher education context.Motivation for the study: Human resources job performance theory seems to offer important insights when extended into other contexts of individual performance. The specific potential influence of affect on student performance is unclear in this context.Research design, approach and method: A non-probability comprehensive sample of all students registered for first-year accountancy (n = 719) was used. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis and bivariate tests of association were used to empirically test theory predicting relationships between affect and student academic performance.Main findings: In general the findings support the predications derived from affect theory, that negative affect is negatively associated with student performance and that positive affect is positively associated with student performance. Yet, the results suggest that affect might not, in this context, reflect the two-dimensional theoretical structure. In particular, negative affectivity might better be considered as a three-dimensioned construct.Practical/managerial implications: These results suggest that proactive measures may need to be taken by higher education institutions to support first-year students affectively. Student advisors or counsellors should be appointed, with a specific focus on providing support for student anxiety and other contextual frustrations to which individuals with higher levels of negative affect might be particularly vulnerable.Contribution: These findings provide new insights into the importance of extending human resource theory into different contexts. Knowledge of the specific potential constraints posed by affect to student performance is provided.
Highlights
Over time, a dominant tension in the affect literature is reflected in the arguments of certain theorists (Brief, Burke, George, Robinson & Webster, 1988; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee & Podsakoff, 2003) who have argued that negative affect poses a methodological threat in research as a ‘nuisance’ variable, and the arguments of Spektor, Zapf, Chen and Frese (2000), who argue that affect has a substantive influence and should be treated as an important causal variable in its own right.From the literature, the potential influence of affect within the context of first-year accounting students is limited
On the basis of a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and, subsequently, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA), it was concluded that affectivity does not necessarily reflect a twodimensional construct, but might better be represented by a model with more than two dimensions in this context
structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis suggested that the latent variable negative affect (NA) is a negative predictor of student performance, together with one subordinate NA item
Summary
A dominant tension in the affect literature is reflected in the arguments of certain theorists (Brief, Burke, George, Robinson & Webster, 1988; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, Lee & Podsakoff, 2003) who have argued that negative affect poses a methodological threat in research as a ‘nuisance’ variable (through an indirect influence), and the arguments of Spektor, Zapf, Chen and Frese (2000), who argue that affect has a substantive influence and should be treated as an important causal variable in its own right (with a direct influence). The potential influence of affect within the context of first-year accounting students is limited. It is argued in this research that negative and positive affect have a direct and substantive influence on the performance of first-year students in this context. Recommendations are made for how to support and empower students and their academic performance
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