Effect of teacher social support on students’ emotions and learning engagement: a U.S.-Chinese classroom investigation

Researchers in educational psychology and instructional communication increasingly acknowledge the importance of student academic emotions for classroom engagement and outcomes. Emotions shape classroom climates via emotional contagion, influence teacher–student relationships and perceptions of teacher competence and trustworthiness, and guide students’ strategic pursuit of mastery, performance, and mental health. Emotional Response Theory (ERT) posits links among teacher communication, students’ affective responses, and students’ approach/avoidance learning behaviors. While prior work has focused on specific instructional behaviors (e.g., clarity, immediacy, dramatic style), there is a need to examine how teachers’ broader supportive behaviors foster effective learning environments and relationships, particularly amid rising college mental-health concerns. Teacher social support (advice, problem solving, esteem, attunement to emotional needs) is a likely precursor of positive student emotions and learning attitudes. Because classroom emotions are embedded in socio-cultural contexts, culture may shape how support is provided and experienced. Guided by ERT, this study investigates: (1) the effects of teacher support on students’ various learning-related emotions and their engagement in learning; and (2) cross-cultural differences (U.S. vs. China) in this process.

The literature review is grounded in Emotional Response Theory (ERT; Mottet et al., 2006), which holds that teachers’ verbal and nonverbal behaviors influence students’ emotional reactions along three dimensions—pleasure-displeasure, dominance-submissiveness, and arousal-nonarousal—thereby shaping approach/avoidance learning behaviors. Empirical research links instructional characteristics (e.g., humor, self-disclosure, narratives; immediacy; clarity; controversial behaviors like swearing; political identity alignment; teacher confirmation) to both positive emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride) and negative emotions (anger, anxiety, shame), often via students’ emotional processes and perceived emotional support. Teacher social support, conceptualized across emotional, informational, esteem, network, and tangible types (the latter typically less relevant in classrooms), has been widely studied in interpersonal contexts and is fundamental in education. Limited evidence suggests teacher support relates to students’ positive emotions and motivation and helps students reappraise stressors. This study treats teacher social support as both instructional and interpersonal, encompassing in-class and out-of-class interactions. Student engagement, defined as time and effort devoted to educational endeavors, reflects desirable approach behaviors and well-being. Engagement is influenced by teacher factors (productive talk, dramatic styles, immediacy, clarity, teacher positive emotions, intellectual stimulation) and student factors (future time perspective, emotion and regulation). Prior work suggests teacher behaviors foster emotional interest that promotes engagement, and teacher emotions can trigger student emotions that enhance engagement across cultures. Cultural context: Chinese higher education is characterized by higher power distance, more lecture-intensive and less interactive classes, and lower teacher immediacy, though teacher roles also emphasize responsibility and care. U.S. classrooms typically reflect lower power distance and more dialogic facilitation. These differences may influence teacher support provision and student emotions. Prior cross-cultural findings are mixed regarding positive emotions; some studies report differing profiles of enjoyment, anxiety, and anger across countries, with similarities in links between emotions and achievement/expectations. More evidence is needed in higher education contexts. Hypotheses and research questions: - H1: Teachers’ social support (emotional, informational, esteem, network) (a) positively relates to students’ positive emotions toward learning; (b) negatively relates to students’ negative emotions. - H2: Students’ (a) positive emotions positively relate to engagement; (b) negative emotions negatively relate to engagement. - H3: Student emotions (positive and negative) mediate the relationship between perceived teacher social support and student engagement. - RQ1: Are there U.S.–China differences in student-perceived levels of emotional, informational, esteem, and network support? - RQ2: Are there U.S.–China differences in student-perceived positive and negative emotions? - RQ3: Is the mediation effect of student emotions between teacher social support and student engagement consistent across U.S. and Chinese cultures?

Design: Cross-sectional survey with U.S. and Chinese college students assessing perceived teacher social support, class-related positive and negative emotions, and learning engagement, followed by correlational, group comparison, and mediation/moderated mediation analyses guided by ERT. Participants and procedures: N=362 students; U.S. sample: n=164 (60 males, 95 females, 9 unidentified), mean age=20.00 (SD=1.86) from a medium-sized U.S. university; China sample: n=198 (31 males, 165 females, 2 unidentified), mean age=20.25 (SD=1.58) from four universities across mainland China. U.S. data were collected via in-class, paper-based surveys (10–15 minutes). Chinese data were collected via voluntary online surveys. Surveys were translated and back-translated by two bilingual scholars. Participants identified the class just attended and then completed demographics, teacher social support, positive/negative emotions toward that class, and learning engagement measures. Majors were diverse. Measures: - Teacher social support: Revised Social Support Scale (Xu & Burleson, 2001), adapted to teacher–student context, with four factors: emotional (e.g., attentive comments), esteem (e.g., assures worth), network (e.g., access to new people relevant to study/social life), informational (e.g., gives advice). Response scale: 1=don’t receive at all to 5=receive a great deal. Cronbach’s alpha (U.S./China): emotional 0.90/0.91; esteem 0.91/0.92; network 0.92/0.91; informational 0.87/0.89. - Student emotions: PANAS (Watson et al., 1988) with 10 positive (e.g., inspired, proud, interested) and 10 negative (e.g., nervous, ashamed, afraid) items, rated 1=very slightly/not at all to 5=extremely. Alpha: U.S. positive 0.86, negative 0.82; China positive 0.91, negative 0.88. - Student engagement: 13-item, 7-point bipolar Student Engagement Scale (Mazer, 2012) assessing motivational and participatory behaviors (e.g., attention during class). Alpha: U.S. 0.85; China 0.90. Data analysis: Pearson correlations among support subscales, positive/negative emotions, and engagement. Independent t-tests compared U.S. and China means. Given high inter-correlations among the four support subscales (~0.7+), a composite Teacher Social Support score was created (M=3.04, SD=0.92) for analyses. Mediation and moderated mediation were tested using Hayes’ PROCESS for SPSS. For H3, a double mediation model (Model 4) tested indirect effects via positive and negative emotions. For RQ3, moderated mediation tested culture (U.S.=0 vs China=1) as a moderator on paths using Model 7 (support→emotions), Model 14 (emotions→engagement), and Model 58 (both paths simultaneously).

Descriptive and correlational results: - Teacher social support composite: M=3.04, SD=0.92. Inter-correlations among support subscales were high (~0.7+). All main variables were significantly related to learning engagement. - H1 supported: Teacher social support was positively correlated with positive emotions, r(356)=0.69, p<0.001, and negatively with negative emotions, r(356)=-0.27, p<0.001. - H2 supported: Learning engagement correlated positively with positive emotions, r(358)=0.68, p<0.001, and negatively with negative emotions, r(358)=-0.19, p<0.001. Mediation (H3): - Positive emotions significantly mediated the relationship between teacher social support and learning engagement: indirect effect B(SE)=0.49(0.06), 95% CI [0.38, 0.60]. - Negative emotions did not significantly mediate the relationship in the presence of positive emotions: B(SE)=-0.01(0.01), 95% CI [-0.04, 0.01]; nor when tested without positive emotions: B(SE)=0.02(0.02), 95% CI [-0.02, 0.05]. Thus, only positive emotions were a critical mediator. Cross-cultural comparisons (RQ1, RQ2): - Network support higher in U.S. vs China: U.S. M=2.78 (SD=1.18), China M=2.43 (SD=1.01); t(357)=2.94, p=0.003. - Positive emotions slightly higher in U.S.: U.S. M=3.13 (SD=1.06), China M=2.92 (SD=0.83); t(361)=2.05, p=0.041 (note: later noted not strictly significant after Bonferroni correction). - Negative emotions higher in China: U.S. M=1.46 (SD=0.55), China M=1.82 (SD=0.68); t(360)=-5.66, p<0.001. - No significant differences in total teacher social support, emotional support, esteem support, informational support, or student engagement. Moderated mediation (RQ3): - No significant cultural moderation of the mediation paths. PROCESS models showed nonsignificant interactions (Model 7, Model 14, Model 58; all 95% CIs for interaction effects included 0). The mediating role of positive (but not negative) emotions was similar across U.S. and Chinese samples.

Findings support and extend Emotional Response Theory by demonstrating that teacher social support—a broader, cross-situational instructional and interpersonal behavior—relates to students’ classroom emotions and engagement. Supportive behaviors (informational, emotional, esteem, network) enhanced students’ positive affect toward class and were associated with reduced negative affect. Crucially, positive emotions mediated the effect of teacher support on engagement, linking support to approach behaviors such as attentive listening, note-taking, and active participation. Despite theoretical arguments that negative emotions can sometimes motivate effort, in this context negative affect did not significantly mediate the support–engagement link once positive emotions were considered. Cross-culturally, U.S. students reported more network support and slightly higher positive affect, while Chinese students reported higher negative affect. These differences align with broader cultural patterns: lower power distance and more dialogic, student-centered pedagogy in the U.S. may facilitate networking and positive affect; higher power distance and more hierarchical expectations in China may be associated with greater anxiety or fear in class settings. Nonetheless, the fundamental support–emotion–engagement mechanism was consistent across both cultures, underscoring the generalizability of ERT processes to supportive communication across distinct educational systems. The results highlight that many instructional behaviors (clarity, immediacy, self-disclosure, narratives) are inherently supportive and likely operate through similar emotional mechanisms. Practically, enhancing supportive communication—especially strategies that bolster positive emotions—can promote engagement regardless of cultural context.

This study contributes a cross-cultural model demonstrating that teacher social support fosters students’ positive emotions, which in turn promote learning engagement, with consistent mechanisms in U.S. and Chinese classrooms. It extends ERT by incorporating a comprehensive construct of teacher support that spans in-class and out-of-class interactions and by jointly examining positive and negative emotions. It also documents cultural differences in perceived network support and in affective profiles. Future research should: (1) use experimental or longitudinal designs to establish causality; (2) examine discrete emotions and their nuanced roles (including potentially motivating negative emotions) within varying instructional and cultural contexts; (3) include more balanced and matched samples across countries (e.g., gender, disciplines) and harmonize data-collection modes; (4) investigate institutional factors (e.g., availability of student services) that may shape teachers’ ability to provide network support; and (5) explore interventions that cultivate supportive communication to enhance student well-being and engagement.

- Mixed-mode data collection (paper-based in the U.S. vs online in China) may introduce methodological differences (response styles, access, data completeness). - Gender imbalance in the Chinese sample (over 80% female) and unmatched samples across countries may bias group comparisons beyond cultural factors. - Multiple t-tests were conducted; the U.S.–China difference in positive emotions did not remain strictly significant after Bonferroni correction. - Correlational design precludes causal inference; experimental or longitudinal designs are needed to test causal pathways among teacher support, student emotions, and engagement. - Generalizability may be constrained by institutional contexts and available support services; future studies should consider broader, more representative samples and settings.