Munich Center of the Learning Sciences
print

Links and Functions

Breadcrumb Navigation


Content

Emotional Contagion in the Classroom: Analyses on Micro- and Macro-Levels

DFG funded Research Project on emotional contagion in the classroom

17.03.2016 at 12:00 

This project focusses on the emotional contagion between teachers and learners in the classroom. Existing empirical work on emotional contagion predominantly addressed dyadic interactions in private or clinical contexts (e.g., couples, therapist/client, parent/child). Surprisingly, the phenomenon of emotional contagion so far seems to have been largely unexplored in educational contexts, although the assumption is obvious that teachers and their classes affect each other in their emotional experiences. The project uses mixed method approaches (multi-level cross-lagged analyzes for questionnaire data, computer-based coding of videotaped emotion expression, and subsequent quantification of emotional synchronicity in the teacher-student interaction). Based on the project findings, it will be possible to identify factors involved in the development of adaptive versus maladaptive teacher-class interaction patterns; with implications for the design of optimal teaching-learning environments to minimize teacher stress and increase learners' well-being and performance.

Principal Investigators: Frenzel, A., Reck, C. & Pekrun, R.

Project Website

Funded by DFG