A Cross-Lagged Panel Study Examining the Reciprocal Relationships Between Positive Emotions, Meaning, Strengths use and Study Engagement in Primary School Students

Study engagement has been considered a key predictor of school performance among students. Although the potential contribution of positive psychology to education has been recognised, the research findings and implications related to primary school students remain largely unexplored. Given that authentic happiness theory and the broaden-and-build theory have posited the important roles of positive emotions, meaning, engagement and strengths use in education, a more comprehensive study is needed to understand their interactions across time. The current longitudinal study examined the interrelationships between these positive attributes among Chinese students in Hong Kong, China. A total of 786 primary school students from Grades 4 to 6 completed the questionnaire survey at two time points one year apart. An autoregressive cross-lagged panel (ARCL) with structural equation modelling was applied for the data analysis. The results revealed that positive emotions predicted positive meaning, strengths use and study engagement across time. Positive emotions and meaning were reciprocally correlated with each other. Moreover, the use of strengths mediated the association between positive emotions and study engagement. The implications and future directions are also discussed.