The role of emotions in adult learning and achievement has received increasing attention in recent years. However, much of the emphasis has been on test anxiety, rather than the wider spectrum of negative emotions such as sadness, grief, boredom and anger. This paper reports findings of a qualitative study exploring the experience and functionality of negative emotions at university. Thirty-six academic staff and students from an Australian university were interviewed about emotional responses to a range of learning events. Data analysis was informed by a prototype approach to emotion research. Four categories of discrete negative emotions (anger, sadness, fear, boredom) were considered by teachers and students to be especially salient in learning, with self-conscious emotions (guilt, embarrassment, shame) mentioned by more students than staff. While negative emotions were frequently viewed as detrimental to motivation, performance and learning, they were also construed under some circumstances as beneficial. The findings are discussed in relation to the value of social functional approaches for a better understanding of the diverse roles of negative emotions in learning and achievement.

Evidence exists that immoral behavior can elicit disgust. The authors thus proposed that highly disgust-sensitive individuals would be particularly repelled by exposure to transgressors and, consequently, would think and behave in ways aimed at reducing the risk of such exposure occurring--a syndrome the authors call moral hypervigilance. To examine these ideas, the authors began in Study 1 by testing the notion that people are disgusted by moral deviants. Evidence was found that participants exposed to descriptions of criminals experienced disgust. Across 2 further studies, disgust sensitivity (DS) was found to be associated with phenomena indicative of moral hypervigilance. In Study 2, mock jurors high on DS were biased toward conviction. In Study 3, DS predicted several hypothesized outcomes: higher estimates of the probability that suspects described in crime vignettes were culpable; a proclivity to attribute evilness to, and recommend lengthy sentences for, criminals; and inflated perceptions of community crime levels.

This paper presents results of an investigation exploring the experience and functionality of positive feelings and emotions in learning and teaching. The role of emotions in learning is receiving increasing attention; however, few studies have researched how university students and academics experience and perceive positive emotions. A prototype approach to emotion measurement is used to analyse interview data of students and lecturers at an Australian university. Themes associated with five positive emotions are explored and student and lecturer views compared.