For the most part, educational systems have made their predictions of student achievement on the basis of static cognitive metrics and summative evaluations, with a tendency to see academic performance as wholly separate from emotional functioning. Yet an ever greater body of modern psychological research puts forward the view that one can only attain sustainable success in education through emotional regulation skills be they in the form of impulse control, affective balance or cognitive reappraisal. In contrast to traditional pedagogies which might censure emotional distress or read a lack of intellectual aptitude into academic frustration, current developmental frameworks hold that the kind of systematic cultivation of emotional regulation is the necessary scaffolding for excellence in the classroom.
Our empirical study looks at the psychological dynamics and behavioral architecture by which students in varied higher education cohorts put these skills to use for educational ends. Over the course of a two year academic cycle we followed a multi-wave cohort of 1,850 university students in what was a rigorous mixed-methods longitudinal exercise. To add qualitative dimension to the work we held 90 semi-structured dialogues with educational psychologists, deans and directors of student wellbeing. The application of advanced multivariate modeling, structural equation modeling and Confirmatory Factor Analysis among them, allows us to show that cognitive reappraisal and affective balance are formidable positive predictors when it comes to grade performance and retention (β = 0.89, p < 0.001). The reverse is true of emotional dysregulation and frustration, which have a marked suppressive impact on the progression of a student (β = -0.66, p < 0.01). It is therefore incumbent on higher education to make room in its curricula for training in emotional regulation.