Exploring the Interplay of Metacognitive Patterns, Emotion Regulation, Error Attribution and Learning Outcomes in Shanghai Primary Students
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Abstract
Metacognitive development, emotion regulation, and error attribution are widely recognized as important psychological factors influencing students’ learning; however, their interrelationships remain underexplored among primary school learners, particularly within the Chinese educational context. This study investigates the interplay of metacognitive patterns, emotion regulation, error attribution, and academic achievement among Shanghai primary students. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 117 students in Grades 2–5 through validated questionnaires measuring emotion regulation, learning strategies, and error attribution, together with students’ academic achievement records. Descriptive statistics, Spearman correlation, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and multiple linear regression analyses were conducted using SPSS. The findings revealed that excessive internal error attribution was significantly and negatively associated with academic achievement, suggesting that attributing academic failure to stable internal factors may undermine students’ self-efficacy and learning performance. Emotion regulation demonstrated significant relationships with specific dimensions of learning strategies but did not directly predict academic achievement. Gender and grade differences were observed in the execution stage of learning strategies, indicating developmental variations in students’ metacognitive behaviors. Although the predictive models explained a relatively small proportion of the variance in academic achievement, the findings contribute to a better understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying primary students’ learning. The study offers practical implications for fostering adaptive error attribution, strengthening metacognitive development, and designing educational interventions that support sustainable learning outcomes in primary education.
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